Have you found yourself confused by Merc's naming system lately?
Let's not even start on the 'engine size' badges like 180 and 250 and so on, which no longer actually refer to the displacement of the engine nor the power output, but rather the power ‘expectations’ that your cubic-capacity-trained mind would have. That’s not changing today.
What Mercedes-Benz is doing for now is renaming some of its crossover and niche models, so that customers can better understand their ranking within the range.
Core models (A-Class, B-Class, C-Class, E-Class and S-Class) keep their existing names and this basic heirarchy will form the pillar around which other vehicles are named.
On the SUV front, the recently-launched GLA also keeps its name because it’s already on the correct rung of the ladder, but future versions of the GLK will be called GLC, ML will become GLE and the GL will spawn the GLS.
According to Mercedes-Benz, the last letter in the names "indicates the relationship to the relevant core model series." That is certainly a hint that the GLS will be a truly upscale machine that's more closely aligned with the S-Class than the GL was. Merc has also announced that there will be a GLE Coupe, which will be fastback-shaped BMW X6 rival.
The legendary G Class gets to keep its name, because it's a G Class it would probably beat you up if you tried to rename it.
Nothing changes on the four-door coupé front, with the CLA and CLS already being within rank, but in the roadster range the SLK will become an SLC while its bigger brother retains the basic SL badge because it's just too legendary to mess with.
The engines will also be given new designations, with petrol models having no letter as before, d denoting diesel, e for electric and plug-in hybrid and c for compressed natural gas