Mercedes midsize pickup coming, but maybe not to U.S.
Don’t expect to see one parked next to the Ford F-150 King Ranch at the Cattle Baron’s Ball soon, but yes, Mercedes-Benz will build a pickup.
There’s no plan to sell the upcoming four-door midsize pickup in the U.S., but Americans better get used to an expanding definition of what a Mercedes is. Trucks are a big part of Mercedes’ future.
The as-yet-unnamed midsize pickup will be in the same category as the Chevrolet Colorado, Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma. It will be based on a new architecture Nissan is developing for pickups it and Renault will share around the world. It seems likely the U.S. replacement for the Frontier expected to debut later this year will also use the architecture.
The deal is the latest in a growing web of ties between Mercedes and Renault-Nissan. Mercedes’ new Smart car uses a Renault-Nissan architecture, and a Nissan plant in Tennessee builds engines for Mercedes cars.
The plan comes from Mercedes’ van division, which specializes in vehicles like the big Sprinter and the smaller Metris delivery vans. The Metris goes on sale in the U.S. this October.
Mercedes plans to sell the pickup in Latin America, Asia and Europe. There’s no word on when sales begin.
Vans and pickups are a far cry from the six-digit roadsters and limos most Americans associate with the threepointed star, but a big part of Mercedes’ reputation around the world rests on rugged and durable commer- cial vehicles.
In addition to selling legion commercial vans and semi-trucks, most taxis in Germany are Mercedes Eclass sedans painted a vaguely vomitous shade of yellow.
If the three-pointed star’s aura of wealth and power can withstand that, it can probably survive on a pickup hood.
If it does, given Mercedes insatiable desire for higher U.S. sales, the F-150, GMC Sierra and Ram 1500 will probably face a Benz pickup someday.