Mercedes Benz GLT tease 07
Carsales Staff24 Oct 2016
NEWS

Mercedes pick-up just over a day away

First HiLux rival from Mercedes-Benz to look exactly like tomorrow night's concept

When Mercedes-Benz lifts the lid on its "pickup concept" in a little over 36 hours' time, it will provide an accurate preview of the German luxury brand's ground-breaking one-tonne ute that will hit Australian showrooms in 2018.

Mercedes began the official countdown to its first direct rival for popular pick-ups like the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger on Friday, when it released a teaser video of the as-yet-unnamed ute.

No official details have been provided, but it's clear from the teaser video that the new Benz ute -- which is based on Nissan's latest NP300 Navara, alongside which it will be built in both Spain and Argentina -- will wear new sheetmetal when it goes on sale globally in the second half of 2017.

Mercedes Benz GLT tease 08

Indeed, Mercedes-Benz's chief of design, Gorden Wagener, confessed to motoring.com.au in March that the design is "all finished" and will incorporate front-end styling cues from the German brand's popular SUV range.

This means the concept vehicle that will debut in Sweden this week will likely be a close approximation of the final production model.

“The pick-up truck will be within our design philosophy,” Wagener told motoring.com.au at this year's Geneva motor show, adding that the vehicle would borrow some design cues from Stuttgart’s SUVs.

“Yeah definitely, [the design is] more in the groove of the SUVs. We will never do an ugly solution, we will only do beautiful cars.

“I’m a big fan of pick-up trucks personally. It will be a really cool truck.”

Although the new ute is yet to be christened with a name – there's been speculation it will be called the X-Class or GLT-Class – Mercedes head-honcho Dieter Zetsche has already claimed that at least the five-seat dual-cab version will be the "world's safest ute".

The upmarket load-lugger will be powered by a range of Mercedes-Benz engines and is expected to become available in a range of body configurations, including the 'lifestyle' twin-cab you see here, and could also get a steroidal power boost via Mercedes hot-shop, AMG.

Initial powerplants are likely to be turbo-diesel engines, including the Navara's 2.3-litre four-cylinder and Mercedes/'s own beefy 3.0-litre V6, which would rival Volkswagen's upcoming Amarok V6 diesel.

Indeed, customers can expect to pay a significant premium over current utes sold in Australia, including the new Amarok V6 that's likely to be priced well beyond the $60,000 mark.

But the extra outlay will bring about more creature comforts, said Wagener, who confirmed there will be both entry-level and high-end luxury variants.

“It will be upscale. It will not get an S-Class interior but if you see it, what we do with the vans, the Vito and V-Class, we have the workhorse and luxury van. You will see both with the pick-up too.

“It will be completely at our standards for materials, shut lines, gaps. There will be a workhorse, but also a nice one.”

Mercedes Benz GLT tease 09


News of the concept ute's reveal comes more than a year after the German prestige car company announced it would launch a strategic assault on the ute or pick-up truck sector back in March 2015.

Anticipation for Benz ute has been massive, with an initial sketch generating an enormous amount of hype around the bombshell announcement.

A strategic alliance between Mercedes-Benz and Renault-Nissan gives the German prestige car a ready-made (and cost-effective) ute platform, in the form of the Navara, which will also underpin Renault's first ute, the Alaskan.

The new Mercedes-Benz ute will be a key model in South American and Australian markets, but is expected to be sold globally. Australia is also one of several development locations for the new ute.

Several other details of the new ute – such as engine types – could be confirmed during the reveal in Stockholm, Sweden.

Stay tuned for more details this week on motoring.com.au and our social media channels as we head to Sweden to investigate.

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Written byCarsales Staff
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