Photo: Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz will start manufacturing its first mid-size pickup truck this year, and it will be named X-Class.
We already know that it will not be marketed in the USA, and that it will be based on a platform from Daimler’s strategic partners at Renault-Nissan.
Mercedes-Benz is expected to place some of its best technologies on this model to make it a part of its lineup, and we are referring to the systems that make up the interior, along with a few tweaks to the all-wheel-drive setup and the propulsion system.
The German brand has already announced that the top-of-the-line variant of the X-Class will come with a V6 diesel engine. The same configuration is available on Nissan’s Navara, the platform donor for the X-Class. Other engine options will include a four-cylinder diesel motor, and both will be compliant with the Euro6c norm.
While Mercedes-Benz will apply small modifications to the Nissan-sourced power train, the German company has an interesting possibility on its hands. The X-Class could become the world’s first mid-size hybrid pickup truck. While that will not happen to the first series of the model, it might get a setup of this type when it gets a restyling.
Mercedes-Benz has the technical solutions to turn the X-Class into a hybrid, and the brand can also propose a more expensive pickup truck because it would be a premium model.
While the company has developed a 48-Volt hybrid setup for its future line of inline-six engines, those units might not be offered on the X-Class because of its existing V6 configuration.
In other words, the 48-Volt setup might not reach the X-Class, but Mercedes-Benz still has other options at hand for hybrid conversions. One of those options is another type of mild-hybrid setup, which would be the only viable possibility with this body style and current battery technology because a larger unit would not fit under the truck frame.
The potential hybrid version of the X-Class could come to market after 2020, when emissions regulations will make all automakers introduce more eco-friendly products in their lineups.
Mercedes-Benz is expected to place some of its best technologies on this model to make it a part of its lineup, and we are referring to the systems that make up the interior, along with a few tweaks to the all-wheel-drive setup and the propulsion system.
The German brand has already announced that the top-of-the-line variant of the X-Class will come with a V6 diesel engine. The same configuration is available on Nissan’s Navara, the platform donor for the X-Class. Other engine options will include a four-cylinder diesel motor, and both will be compliant with the Euro6c norm.
While Mercedes-Benz will apply small modifications to the Nissan-sourced power train, the German company has an interesting possibility on its hands. The X-Class could become the world’s first mid-size hybrid pickup truck. While that will not happen to the first series of the model, it might get a setup of this type when it gets a restyling.
Mercedes-Benz has the technical solutions to turn the X-Class into a hybrid, and the brand can also propose a more expensive pickup truck because it would be a premium model.
While the company has developed a 48-Volt hybrid setup for its future line of inline-six engines, those units might not be offered on the X-Class because of its existing V6 configuration.
In other words, the 48-Volt setup might not reach the X-Class, but Mercedes-Benz still has other options at hand for hybrid conversions. One of those options is another type of mild-hybrid setup, which would be the only viable possibility with this body style and current battery technology because a larger unit would not fit under the truck frame.
The potential hybrid version of the X-Class could come to market after 2020, when emissions regulations will make all automakers introduce more eco-friendly products in their lineups.
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