The Mercedes-Benz M-Class is a luxury mid-size sport utility vehicle

Sport utility vehicle

A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. It is usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle. Not all four-wheel...

 (SUV), first offered in 1997 as a 1998 model, and built by the German automaker Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

. Gradually, the M-Class became a sales success in the United States and Mexico. In terms of size, it is slotted in between the smaller GLK-Class

Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class

The Mercedes-Benz GLK is a compact luxury crossover released as a 2009 model elsewhere and as a 2010 model in North America after its public debut at the 2008 Beijing Auto Show alongside the competing Audi Q5....

 (based on the C-Class

Mercedes-Benz C-Class

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is a compact executive car produced by the Mercedes-Benz division of Daimler AG. First introduced in 1993 as a replacement for the 190 range , the C-Class was the smallest model in the marque's lineup until the 1997 arrival of the A-Class...

) and the larger GL-Class, with which it shares platforms. For a short time, between the years 1999 to 2002, the M-Class was also built by Magna Steyr

Magna Steyr

Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik AG & Co KG is an automobile manufacturer based in Oberwaltersdorf, Austria, with its primary manufacturing location in Graz...

 in Graz

Graz

The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

, Austria, for the European market, until it moved to part of the US market.
Mercedes-Benz launched the first generation W163 series ML-Class in 1997 for the 1998 model year.