Larger than a standard delivery van, but smaller than a conventional light truck of the period, it was the manufacturer's first model in this class.

By 1955, Daimler-Benz was well represented in the passenger car market, and also offered commercial operators an extensive range of conventional trucks.

However, during the early 1950s the success of the Volkswagen panel van and rejuvenated Opel Blitz persuaded Mercedes-Benz that the category was too important to be ignored.

The vehicle has a turning radius of 11.5 Meters [3] Leaf springing and rigid axles had the merit of simplicity and development costs were also kept down by using engines directly from the company's passenger car range.

This was part of a wider relabelling of the company's commercial vehicle range intended, for the initiated, to identify "weight and output data" in model names.