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Mercedes-Benz Has Created The Mercedes Of Pickup Trucks

You know what’s the most boggling thing about this pickup? Because it’s a Mercedes and will undoubtedly come with Mercedes prices, that means no one will actually use this as a pickup truck. No one is going to drop a ton of money on one of these then go hauling heavy and dirty stuff in the back. It’s probably never even going to get dirty. Basically, it’s going to become what 99.99999% of “SUVs” are today.

All snark aside, Mercedes-Benz has announced their X-Class, a line of premium pickup trucks based off the Nissan Navara, the global successor to the Frontier. While being based on Frontier DNA means it could probably actually handle itself as a pickup, let’s not kid ourselves; you’ll see people hauling and off-roading in this about as much as you see people doing the same thing in a Porsche Macan.

In all honesty, the X-Class looks absolutely fantastic. It looks like all X-Classes will come in the four door crew cab configuration, and the tailgate will be available in the standard 90-degree opening, or with a rear bumper delete with an 180-degree opening.

Being Mercedes, it should be no surprise that the marketing is as a luxury lifestyle vehicle, but it appears that the X-Class can do some actual truck stuff too. The X-Class can haul up to 2,425 lbs in the bed and can tow up to 7,716 lbs. Not too shabby for the ritzy new kid on the block.

The base X200 X-Class will come with a 165 HP I4 engine, which is nothing to really write home about. The X220d and X250d will feature two different diesel engines, 163 HP and 190 HP respectively. The top of the range X-Class model will feature a diesel V6 at 258 HP.

You’ll have a choice of manual or automatic transmissions (props for including a manual!) and RWD or AWD. The all-wheel-drive option comes with a low range and optional locking differential, so expect it to handle itself off the tarmac as well. There is also a drivetrain option that uses RWD until it needs the other wheels for additional traction.

Lots of tech will be packed into the X-Class, with features like autonomous braking, lane-keep assist, traffic sign recognition (has it really come to this?), and Mercedes’ connected car services.

Three distinct lines of the X-Class will be offered; the Pure, which focuses on ruggedness and utility, the Progressive, which sits somewhere in the middle, and the Power, which focuses on comfort and luxury.

Whether or not the X-Class will be offered in the US is still up in the air, but it is for sure a go in Europe, Africa, South America, and other markets. The X-Class will be sold as part of the Mercedes-Benz Vans division and will start at around $42,758.

Tony Hsieh

Cars, the Buffalo Bills, video games, comics, sandwiches, jelly beans, and the shooting star press; these are the things that Tony loves (in addition to his family, of course). When he's not spending his time writing tech reviews for theslanted.com, Tony puts his lifetime love of muscle cars to use on his 2015 Mustang GT. Tony's top three favorite cars are the 1973 Mustang Mach 1, Ferrari 458, and Aston Martin DBS.

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