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Feann Torr28 Oct 2016
NEWS

Mercedes X-Class could have been an F-150 rival

Benz considered a full-size pick-up to take on US market, but decided to go global

The Mercedes-Benz X-Class could have been a lot bigger and tougher than the mid-size one-tonner previewed by two luxurious Nissan Navara-based concepts this week in Sweden.

Senior executives of the German premium car-maker have revealed they considered the idea of building a full-size pick-up to rival the likes of Ford's F-150, Chevy's Silverado and the Dodge RAM, potentially based on the Nissan Titan platform.

Nissan Titan

Instead, Mercedes-Benz has forsaken the North American market completely and will not sell its new X-Class ute there, choosing to focus on what it says is a more lucrative global mid-size pick-up market.

It was around 2010 when the German luxury car company first started discussing the potential of building a pick-up – or ute, as they’re known in Australia – and it was initially intrigued by the US market's thirst for big utes.

Ford F-150

But the mastermind behind the new X-Class, former AMG chief and now Mercedes-Benz Vans boss Volker Mornhinweg, explained that the numbers just didn't add up and by early 2012 it was decided the ute would be a mid-sizer.

"Why didn't we choose North America as a first choice? We discussed and researched the full-size pick-up truck segment and it's a huge segment – roughly three something million units per year," he said.

"But it's quite focussed on the North American market. It's not a global product."

Mercedes-Benz Concept X-Class

Ford's F-Series is routinely the best-selling vehicle in North America's massive pick-up segment, which is bigger than entire global marketplace for mid-size utes such as the upcoming X-Class, Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger, amounting to around two million sales.

But Benz believes the number of mid-size ute sales will skyrocket by almost 40 per cent by 2025, to 2.8 million sales, almost matching the large pick-up segment.

Mornhinweg also points out that "…these three something million [large pick-ups in the USA] are produced by three companies and they make roughly 95 per cent, so therefore it's not worthwhile to step in there and try to enter that battle for five per cent [market share].

"That's the reason why we didn't choose that segment," explained Mornhinweg, who also stated that sales of mid-size pickup trucks in the USA were declining.

"There is a slide there, maybe they will catch up but currently we do not see a real big boost or positive momentum [in the US]."

Mercedes-Benz Concept X-Class interior

Despite Mercedes-Benz's decision to deny US customers access to the X-Class, other brands such as Ford are ploughing ahead with the manufacture of mid-size utes in the USA, namely the Ranger.

But US readers keen on the X-Class still have hope, with Mornhinweg conceding there were "still some future opportunities" for Mercedes-Benz in the US pick-up market.

Mercedes-Benz X-Class related reading:
Mercedes-Benz C-Class revealed, first details
Priced to rival HiLux
AMG version possible
Not just a Nissan Navara
World’s safest ute
Mercedes-Benz X-Class video preview

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