Photo: CarPix
Mercedes-Benz has not set a timetable for the launch of its first pick-up truck in the United States of America.
According to Dietmar Exler, the new CEO of Mercedes-Benz’s North American division, the company has not set a date for deciding whether to bring the midsize pickup truck to this market.
In an interview with Automotive News, Mr. Exler said it was "whenever," when asked about when the company would make a definitive decision about selling the pick-up truck in the US.
Steve Cannon, Mr. Exler’s predecessor, said they would make a call on the pick-up truck’s destiny in 2015, and later revised the date for mid-2016. A similar engagement was presented by Ola Kaellenius, Mercedes-Benz’s global sales boss.
Fortunately, Mr. Exler did explain why there were discrepancies between these statements. The previous pronouncements referred to when the company must decide if they would launch the pick-up truck on the U.S. market, so they would not have to wait another year from the unveil of the model for the rest of the world.
As most of you already know, the first pick-up truck from Mercedes-Benz is being developed on a platform borrowed from a Nissan, the NP300 "Navara." The two companies have an ongoing partnership, and this new machine is one of the fruits of their collaboration.
Mercedes-Benz is expected to showcase the new model this fall, at the 2016 Paris Motor Show, but the German company will apparently focus on other markets with its first pick-up truck, while the U.S. will have to wait a while until they launch their first model in this segment in the country.
As the former Mercedes-Benz USA boss, Mike Jackson, noted, the company "should skip the pickup in the US because of the challenge the brand will face when going against models already sold by Ford, GM, and Fiat Chrysler." Mr. Jackson is the CEO of AutoNation, the largest dealer of the three-pointed star in the USA, so he should know what the market wants.
In an interview with Automotive News, Mr. Exler said it was "whenever," when asked about when the company would make a definitive decision about selling the pick-up truck in the US.
Steve Cannon, Mr. Exler’s predecessor, said they would make a call on the pick-up truck’s destiny in 2015, and later revised the date for mid-2016. A similar engagement was presented by Ola Kaellenius, Mercedes-Benz’s global sales boss.
Fortunately, Mr. Exler did explain why there were discrepancies between these statements. The previous pronouncements referred to when the company must decide if they would launch the pick-up truck on the U.S. market, so they would not have to wait another year from the unveil of the model for the rest of the world.
As most of you already know, the first pick-up truck from Mercedes-Benz is being developed on a platform borrowed from a Nissan, the NP300 "Navara." The two companies have an ongoing partnership, and this new machine is one of the fruits of their collaboration.
Mercedes-Benz is expected to showcase the new model this fall, at the 2016 Paris Motor Show, but the German company will apparently focus on other markets with its first pick-up truck, while the U.S. will have to wait a while until they launch their first model in this segment in the country.
As the former Mercedes-Benz USA boss, Mike Jackson, noted, the company "should skip the pickup in the US because of the challenge the brand will face when going against models already sold by Ford, GM, and Fiat Chrysler." Mr. Jackson is the CEO of AutoNation, the largest dealer of the three-pointed star in the USA, so he should know what the market wants.
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