Short-lived X-Class ute unlikely to return

MERCEDES-BENZ VANS short-lived partnership with Nissan is unlikely to be repeated, the German commercial vehicle manufacturer telling journalists gathered for the unveiling of the new V-Class range this week that its dalliance with the light commercial utility market is likely to remain a one-off.

Responding to questions raised by the Australian media, Mercedes-Benz Vans head of marketing, Marion Friese, said Mercedes-Benz buyers are not asking for the X-Class to return.

“We do not have any concrete plans on that front, but as always, we keep an eye on our customers and potential customers and then decide what we do,” she explained.

“(At the moment) our customers are not asking for a pick-up based on our current vehicles. But, as we have seen, the pick-up segment is a huge segment, and therefore we will keep our ears at the voice of the customer and see what the future will bring.”

Based on the D23-series Nissan Navara, the W470-series Mercedes-Benz X-Class was announced in 2015 as a new addition to the Mercedes-Benz Vans range. It was released in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2017 and went on sale in selected global markets later that year.

At the time, the partnership with the Renault-Nissan Alliance was spruiked as a means of “drastically reducing the time and cost” associated with entering the “key segment”. But just five years later the deal was dissolved.

Citing slimmer than expected profitability, limited global demand (read: slow sales) and controversy surrounding the use of shared Nissan-Renault underpinnings, the model was quickly relegated to the pages of history.

Now in its ninth year on the market, Nissan’s D23-series Navara is expected to be replaced with a Mitsubishi Triton-based model within the next 12-18 months. Cost saving measures will see the now Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance produce a new utility from a shared platform, but there are no plans for a revamped Mercedes-Benz X-Class.

But without an entrant in the “lifestyle” ute market, Mercedes-Benz Vans may well be doing itself a disservice.

The lifestyle utility market has grown exponentially in the years since the X-Class left the market, with the sale of highly equipped and recreationally focused dual-cab utilities now outpacing the sale of workhorse variants in many markets.

One possibility for Mercedes-Benz Vans is to offer a full-size pick-up based on G-Wagen underpinnings. Utility versions of the G-Wagen have been available in the past, and the current platform certainly allows modification to accommodate a tray bed behind a luxury cabin.

With engine offerings including a hearty V8, there’s also plenty of power to offer cashed-up LCV buyers.

However, for now Mercedes-Benz Vans is keeping schtum on its return to the dual-cab ute market with no known plans in the pipeline.

Whether we’ll see a return to a luxury utility the likes of the X-Class is currently anyone’s guess… even if the idea of an AMG-enhanced G-Wagen based pick-up seems like a good one.