Photo: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien
Mercedes-Benz's first ever pickup truck wants to attract customers with a promised "car-like" handling, but these latest photos of the testing prototype suggest it won't forget about the whole 4x4 thing either.
Not that we thought it would. Throughout the entire testing phase, the X-Class hasn't showed one inch of bare skin, leaving us to feed on the few bits of information at hand like the large radiator grille or the production-ready headlights.
The shapes underneath the camouflage wrap suggest the Mercedes-Benz X-Class will bear a lot of resemblance to the two concepts revealed in October last year, meaning we should only expect minor changes particularly in the lower part where the need for a license plate holder should cover some of that mesh up.
Other than that, the overall silhouette of the truck, as well as the window line, seem to match the concept inch for inch. However, we won't really know for sure until Mercedes finally decides to remove some of the camouflage - which, by the way things are going, might not happen before the official reveal.
As you all know by now, the X-Class is based on the same platform that underpins the Nissan Navara and the Renault Alaskan as part of the partnership between the two brands - the Germans lent their MFA (Modular Front Architecture) platform to Nissan's Infiniti premium brand in return. That explains the relatively short time it took Mercedes-Benz to come up with a working prototype, and also eliminates a lot of doubt over the vehicle's ability to function like a proper mid-sized pickup truck.
Calling it a Nissan Navara with a different front end bolted on would be an oversimplification, though, as Mercedes-Benz promises unprecedented levels of luxury and refinement for this class. Completely not needed, you might say, but we're convinced the Stuttgart-based company knows what it's doing and will be short of customers.
A lot has been made of the fact the X-Class will have a 3.0-liter V6 diesel engine, as opposed to the four-cylinder units most pickup trucks this size usually got. It will most definitely have two-liter power plants too, as well as gasoline-powered ones if talks of entering the North American market turn out to be true.
The red mud plastered all over the prototype's body suggests the pickup is fresh out of an off-road excursion, and it's just a shame our photographers weren't there to catch it in the act. Given the tires, though, we don't imagine it was anything too spectacular, but probably still more than most X-Classes will ever see.
The shapes underneath the camouflage wrap suggest the Mercedes-Benz X-Class will bear a lot of resemblance to the two concepts revealed in October last year, meaning we should only expect minor changes particularly in the lower part where the need for a license plate holder should cover some of that mesh up.
Other than that, the overall silhouette of the truck, as well as the window line, seem to match the concept inch for inch. However, we won't really know for sure until Mercedes finally decides to remove some of the camouflage - which, by the way things are going, might not happen before the official reveal.
As you all know by now, the X-Class is based on the same platform that underpins the Nissan Navara and the Renault Alaskan as part of the partnership between the two brands - the Germans lent their MFA (Modular Front Architecture) platform to Nissan's Infiniti premium brand in return. That explains the relatively short time it took Mercedes-Benz to come up with a working prototype, and also eliminates a lot of doubt over the vehicle's ability to function like a proper mid-sized pickup truck.
Calling it a Nissan Navara with a different front end bolted on would be an oversimplification, though, as Mercedes-Benz promises unprecedented levels of luxury and refinement for this class. Completely not needed, you might say, but we're convinced the Stuttgart-based company knows what it's doing and will be short of customers.
A lot has been made of the fact the X-Class will have a 3.0-liter V6 diesel engine, as opposed to the four-cylinder units most pickup trucks this size usually got. It will most definitely have two-liter power plants too, as well as gasoline-powered ones if talks of entering the North American market turn out to be true.
The red mud plastered all over the prototype's body suggests the pickup is fresh out of an off-road excursion, and it's just a shame our photographers weren't there to catch it in the act. Given the tires, though, we don't imagine it was anything too spectacular, but probably still more than most X-Classes will ever see.
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