Mercedes-Benz, one of the well-known makers of luxury cars, has announced that they will introduce a new breed of pickup trucks in late 2017. This is one of the areas in the modern car industry that is most profitable. This lavish Mercedes-Benz pickup truck will be called the X-class.
According to Reuters Business News, Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche announced that they will close one of the last gaps of Mercedes' portfolio with the all new Mercedes-Benz X-class pickup truck. In Stockholm, Mercedes revealed the concept version of this upcoming pickup truck together with spy shots and running tests. This pickup will be available in the showrooms of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Europe, and South Africa late next year.
However, X-class pickup truck will not be available yet in the United States, which is the biggest market for pickup trucks, accounting for approximately 90 percent of global petrax margins at General Motors and Ford.
Daimler further added that the new X-class pickup truck will be built by its vans division. Since Mercedes, Nissan, and Renault have shared plants, engines, and vehicle underpinnings as a result of a forged cooperation alliance in 2010, the production of the X-class pickup truck will be done at the Renault and Nissan plants.
Manufacturing for the big market in Australia, Europe, and South Africa will start at the Nissan plant in Barcelona, Spain, in 2017. For the Latin American market, production will be at the Renault plant in Cordoba, Argentina, the following year.
According to Topspeed, the X-class pickup truck looks like the Nissan Navarra truck. This is most probably because of the codevelopment of the truck by Mercedes-Benz and Nissan in an effort to cut development costs. However, despite the heavy camouflage, the X-class pickup truck is still different and unique in numerous ways. Top speed further added that the X-class' fenders are much wider than that of the Nissan's and has a wider track. To hide its truck's bodywork, it also possesses camo bulges on the hood and roof, a characteristic that is exclusive to Mercedes.
Unlike the Navarra, the X-class's cargo bed rails also possess an interesting shape that rises up to meet the rear window sill thereby embodying a unique Mercedes feature.
Suspicions arise that Mercedes will call the X-class pickup truck the GLT and give it styling cues from the GL-Class SUV. The GLT will most likely have access to GL-Class powertrain including a choice between four and six-cylinder engines, both gasoline and diesel variants. The X-class pickup truck may also be released in six-speed manual, seven-speed automatic variants, and 4MATIC AWD.
All these features together with the spy shots and reviews of the upcoming X-class pickup truck continue to thrill automotive enthusiasts around the world. Indeed, Mercedes-Benz X-class pickup truck is something we should all look forward to.
