Mercedes Pickup Truck Concept: Here it Is
Even though Mercedes has a successful line of work vans, it still came as a shock when the automaker announced last year that it was developing a pickup truck. At the time, a rough concept sketch was all that was available. But today, Mercedes showed off its first midsize pickup concept-the X-Class.
In profile, you can clearly see the X-Class concept's Nissan Navara roots, but the rest of the styling is all Mercedes. Its headlights are different, but you can clearly see a lot of AMG GT in the front end. Whether or not that's a good thing is up to you to decide.
Currently, Mercedes says it plans to sell the X-Class in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Great Britain, and South Africa. They won't have to wait long to get it, either. Production is currently slated to begin in late 2017.
When asked for comment on whether it will come to the U.S., Mercedes-Benz USA said "the Mercedes-Benz pickup shown on October 25, 2016 is a concept. While a pickup is under consideration for the US market at some point, no timeline is available for a decision to be made."
And while the truck shown above is clearly the off-road-ready version, Mercedes also showed off a less-extreme, luxury-focused X-Class concept. The production version, however, will likely attempt to blend the two concepts.
Presumably, the off-road capability of the X-Class will be a bigger draw in markets like Africa and South America, while Europe and the Middle East will likely be more interested in the X-Class' image and luxurious features.
Mercedes promises to offer a wide range of engines. But so far it's only specified that the top-level one will be a diesel V6 paired with full-time four-wheel drive. With that combination, it will be able to haul 2200 lbs. and tow up to 7000 lbs. For a midsize truck, that's pretty impressive.
From what we've seen so far, the X-Class looks a lot better than you'd expect from a Nissan-based Mercedes pickup truck. But we're not entirely sure how large a market there will be for a luxury pickup truck.
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