The Mercedes-Benz M-Class is a luxury mid-size sport utility vehicle (SUV), first offered in 1997 as a 1998 model, and built by the German automaker Mercedes-Benz. 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 (based on the C-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 built by Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria, for the European market, until it moved to part of the U.S. market.
The M-Class was the first luxury SUV to feature stability control, a system designed to detect loss of control and instantaneously intervene with selective braking to bring the vehicle back on its intended course. This system is now hailed by safety experts, and studies have shown stability control and systems like it are capable of reducing single vehicle crashes by up to 30 percent. Furthermore, the M-Class boasted front- and side-impact airbags with advanced occupant detection for the front passenger seat, which, combined with Mercedes' legendary safety structure, earned the M-Class the highest marks in insurance industry crash tests.
Before the vehicle was launched, Mercedes-Benz allowed the producers to use two pre-production M-Class SUVs in the film The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and used the vehicle's appearance in the film as a way to advertise it when it was launched. As a result, a Mercedes-Benz ad appears before the film on original VHS copies of the film.