Mercedes X-Class Concept: Pickup study for 2017

D he completely new presentation with everyone Facts about the X-class concept can be found below.

Live from Stockholm: First impressions from the world premiere of the X-Class. 12 points that caught my eye.

1. Mercedes has learned from the Citan. Badge engineering is difficult to attest here. Independent optics, great interior at car level, it doesn't look much like Navara.
2. The front of the 'street version' of the X-Class concept looks a lot like what you imagine 2017 on the production car can.
3. A step in the right direction that - at least according to the technician - the chassis has been completely redeveloped and tuned. The Nissan Navara is not a role model in this detail.
4. The X-Class will only come with coil springs on the rear axle, even in the heavy-duty versions. Brave but exciting.
5. With the V6 diesel and permanent all-wheel drive in the top version of the X-Class, the new VW Amarok loses its unique selling point. Will they like it in Wolfsburg?
6. The decision to take over the four-cylinder engine from Renault-Nissan in the basic versions is correct. The engine fits a pickup for serious users, has a lot of punch and runs comfortably.
7. Many will love the road version. Even more with the AMG package. Low profile tires on a pickup are becoming socially acceptable.
8. Most of the evening at the premiere: Premium. Second most: Lifestyle. For the chronicle: A pickup.
9. Dear designers, that you think the round fan nozzles are great - ok. But a double battery of it in the middle of the dashboard, plus the attached display of the multimedia system behind it, um, no.
10. Dear designer, the radiator grille of the off-road variant awakens associations in me with the current Unimog, well done!
11. Dear designers, with all the effort, did you really run out of budget to mount a real cable winch on the off-road version?
12. Dear designer, great that you are tempted have resisted screwing fashionable beadlock rims to the Off-Road X-Class. And instead a wheel-tire combination that real hardcore off-roaders also choosewould: 35x11.5 R16. Great!

Torsten Seibt

will give. Will the top engine, a V6 diesel with permanent all-wheel drive, come from Mercedes or Nissan? There is no official statement about this yet. The rear axle and central lock promise a good off-road competence.

Of course, the study is not yet at production level, this shows, among other things, the missing fuel filler flap. The center console's aluminum cladding, milled from solid, is also unlikely to come like this. Others, on the other hand, will go into series production: Mercedes promises an infotainment system like the one we know from the C or V class. As there, the display sits on the dashboard and the rotary push button on the center console. Of course, the Nissan Navara doesn't have that. The dashboard is also based more on the car, the center console is less powerful than usual in pickups. The handbrake on the center console, however, will also get the production car. Apart from the G, 190 and the first SLK, a rather rare component of a Mercedes.

Rather untypical for a pickup, but Mercedes standards: driver assistance systems and networking. Cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors will in some cases be standard. It is planned to also offer Connect-me services with which, for example, the location of the pickup can be displayed on the smartphone. So far, the competence of pickups has been limited to reversing beepers and cameras. Because Mercedes expects a wide range of customers, the X-Class can be configured from robust to stylish and customized with numerous factory accessories.

Mercedes X-Class with 3.5 tons trailer load

More solid and a decisive purchase argument for the clientele with heavy loads: The pickup will be able to load a good 1.1 tons and pull trailers weighing up to 3.5 tons. That is roughly what the Nissan can do.