By Jamie Barrie D aimler AG is going after Millennials with its Mercedes-Benz X-Class which will be its first ever pickup truck offer by the world’s biggest maker of luxury vehicles. Mercedes is betting that upscale car buyers in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America are ready for an open-bed hauler that can be used as an all-terrain pickup, but versatile so it can also fit the needs of a family vehicle for the majority of us with a more urban lifestyle, a taste for leather seats, oak trim and Autobahn ready handling for those trips to the cottage. Mercedes’ X-Class will be available initially with two diesel option models, as well as a gasoline engine model. The company says that a top-of- the-line V6 diesel model will be available in mid to late 2018, giving Mercedes a mid-size pickup offering that rivals BMW and Audi and one that neither are likely to match any time soon. Many ask why Mercedes would make this move, well the answer is simple. Daimler anticipates that demand for mid-sized trucks will grow by 43 percent over the next decade to about 3.2 million vehicles. While that might be attractive, there is a risk moving into a new market segment for any brand, especially for a brand that trades on its image for elegance and performance. However, “The X-Class is the first genuine pickup with convincing passenger-car characteristics,” said Volker Mornhinweg, head of the Mercedes vans unit, which developed the model. “As a result, the X-Class pushes the boundaries of the classic pickup.” This is sure to draw customers that are looking for a pick-up with a car like performance for day to day use. Now, for the bad news. For those of us in North America, we will have to wait a little while longer for the new X-Class to hit our markets as the auto manufacture plans to stay clear of the very competitive North Americans truck market, which is dominated by vehicles like Ford’s F- Series, Chevrolet’s Silverado and Dodge’s Ram Series of trucks for now.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • AUGUST 2017
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