The most popular German manufacturer of automotive equipment, Mercedes-Benz, prepared a surprise for Russian drivers: in the beginning of 2018, an elite mid-sized pickup truck, the Mercedes X-class 2018, will appear on the domestic market (photo below).
Photo: new Mercedes X-class 2018
It cannot be said that the production of these light trucks is a priority area of activity for Mercedes-Benz: the company's marketing specialists traditionally target the buyer with above-average incomes who want to buy a premium car. These included even the cheap 190th episode, which was released in the mid-1980s and subsequently became extremely popular in the countries of the former USSR.
Even the Mercedes-Benz SUV has until recently produced only one: the world-famous military Gelendvagen (G-class). But the global demand for small maneuverable trucks is constantly growing, and the German manufacturer is not going to stand aside, losing the opportunity to expand its target audience.
However, Mercedes-Benz does not intend to begin production of a new type of car from scratch: the basis of the pickup Mercedes X-class 2018 (photo below) will be taken already existing Japanese model - Nissan Navara. The decision is ambiguous, if we take into account the established world practice of producing pick-ups based on our own off-road vehicles and vice versa. The most likely explanation for such a step of the Germans is the desire to gain time in the competition, without spending it on their own research and development. In addition, Mercedes-Benz is known for a cautious approach to communicating with customers: it is quite possible that in this way the marketers of the company decided to test the reaction of customers to an unexpected expansion of the range.
Mercedes X-class 2018 - video
