Are you an affluent person looking for a luxury minivan without sliding rear doors? No? That’s not very surprising, since the Mercedes-Benz R-Class, a vehicle built to fill exactly that niche, has sold so poorly that it will be discontinued after the 2013 model year. If you are, don’t despair, the Mercedes-Benz R-Class will still be available until the end of the 2013 model year, so you have plenty of time to buy one.
The R-Class leaving the U.S. does have a slightly heartwarming silver lining: there will still be R-Class cars leaving the U.S. That’s because while the R-Class will no longer be for sale here, it will still be available in other markets. The Truth About Cars reports that the R-Class sells well in Canada, China and Mexico. Since the R-Class is built in Alabama, that will make it an American export, something people have been lamenting the loss of for some time.
Mercedes says that the R-Class will be in production at least until 2015, which will be ten years into the car’s life without a full redesign, something almost unheard of outside of Ford in the current automotive landscape.
