By 2020, Mercedes-Benz will launch its first the mid-size pickup, and it will be sold in practically all markets except the USA and Canada.
In the last decade-and-a-bit Mercedes-Benz has chased volume and profits by exploring ever cheaper parts of the market, as well as entering ever smaller niches.
At the bottom end it created the Smart ForTwo city car, and A- and B-Class hatches. It then followed up those efforts with the GLA crossover and the CLA “coupe” sedan.
Further up the food chain, it has courted the mega-rich with Maybach and the merely rich with CLS four-door “coupe” and upcoming GLE SUV “coupe”.
With practically all parts of the market filled, Mercedes-Benz has seemingly run out of ideas and will now come up with a Hilux-size ute.
This pickup truck will be developed by the company’s van division, which predates Mercedes-Benz’s desire to be all things to all people. So, on the one hand, it should actually be a capable load hauler.
On the other, we wonder whether BMW will follow suit. We hope not.
