The Mercedes X-Class pickup truck was introduced as a luxurious option for those looking for a comfortable daily driver paired with the capability of a truck bed. There was just one problem—Mercedes doesn’t sell it in America, sales in Europe are bad, and now the Merc truck is probably already dead.
Automotive News Europe, citing anonymous sources “at the automaker,” is reporting that the X-Class pickup will soon be dropped from the lineup as Mercedes parent company Daimler is looking to cut costs as it continuously cuts its profit forecasts over emissions regulations and recalls.
And the X-Class is a prime target for cost cutting, because its sales are pretty terrible:
Mercedes launched the model in 2017, aiming to give its light commercial vehicles division a more diversified sales footprint by entering the booming global segment of midsize pickups.
But only 16,700 units of the X class were sold last year in Europe, Australia and South Africa. The U.S., where demand is mainly for full-size pickups, was ruled out as a market.
Right from the start, the X class was unable to live up to expectations. Its price, starting at 37,294 euros in Germany, was too high. Competition is fierce in its segment, in which VW Amarok and Ford Ranger also compete.
Jalopnik reached out to Mercedes to confirm the report and will update when we hear back.
The Mercedes X-Class had more European market share in 2018 than the Renault Alaskan, with which it shares its platform, but only about a quarter of the market share of the Nissan Navaro which also rides on the same platform.
Perhaps the X-Class just wasn’t luxurious enough, with the automaker simply throwing in its common tack-on tablet infotainment screen, x-pattern air vents, optional leather seats and infotainment control dial to an otherwise spartan work truck interior from the Nissan it was based on.
It neither had the rugged charm of the G-Class, nor the high quality refinement and materials of something like the GLS SUV. From there, the math isn’t that hard. On a superficial level, it almost sounds like the X-Class suffered from the same problem as the original Lincoln Blackwood, with the added conundrum of no American sales.
Meanwhile in America, truck buyers are eating up luxury options tacked onto rugged work trucks, as the major truck brands like Ford, Ram and GM all continue to push their pickup offerings further and further into bloated, leathery status symbols that check off as many capability and luxury boxes as buyers can afford.
But honestly, the X-Class probably wouldn’t have done phenomenal in the U.S., either. Still, I’d bet a lot of money it’d be a hell of a lot more trucks than the measly 16,700 units it’s done elsewhere.