Mercedes-Benz won’t be bringing back the X-Class pickup but hasn’t closed the door entirely to a future re-entry into the pickup market.
The German manufacturer’s last entry into the pickup market was built around a Nissan Navara, with substantial styling updates and a new interior. However, even with the addition of a smooth 3.0-litre V6 engine, the brand didn’t gain acceptance from users who had decided it wasn’t much more than a ‘posh Nissan’.
The project failed to make a profit thanks to lower-than-anticipated demand, and just three years on from its introduction in 2017 — and with fewer than 5,000 sales in the UK — the X-Class was cancelled by Mercedes.
With the new Mitsubishi L200 having been revealed this week and the knowledge that the Japanese vehicle will provide the underpinnings of the next-generation Nissan Navara, the question of whether Mercedes would have another go at producing a premium pickup has come up again.
At this week’s launch of the revamped Vito and eVito van, Mercedes Vans’ head of marketing, Marion Friese, was asked whether the brand would consider returning to the luxury end of the pickup sector.
“We don’t have any concrete plans on that one, but as always, we keep an eye on our customers and potential customers and then decide what we do,” Friese responded. “[Our customers] are not asking for a pickup based on our current vehicles, but as we have seen, the pickup segment is a huge segment, and we will keep our ears at the voice of the customer and see what the future will bring.”
The lifestyle pickup market has expanded in recent years, with every brand offering a model aimed less at those needing a hard-working machine and more at those wanting family transport and familiar luxuries. Following the launch of the new Volkswagen Amarok, with a lifestyle-focussed Aventura model that doesn’t qualify as a dual-purpose vehicle thanks to its low payload limits, Ford will introduce a fully-loaded Ranger Platinum edition costing more than £45,000 plus VAT.
Perhaps there’s room for a new Mercedes X-Class after all.
