Mercedes' pickup failure - the X-Class story

[@doordedeur]

Premium meant excellent build quality in the past, but now it's just a badge. Many premium cars are less reliable than a Kia or Hyundai.

[@khylerin70]

Here in Australia, the VW Amarok is a good seller with quality build and dependability combined with versatility.

[@baronvonjo1929]

Indeed. Many videos of people sitting in modern Mercedes and you can hear the squeaks and cheap plastic groaning under touch.

[@mahcooharper9577]

​@@khylerin70 Amarok is popular in Oz, mostly with people who want to appear sophisticated, but not seen as reliable compared to many other options.

[@N1ckZ]

​@@baronvonjo1929 those are fake.

[@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24]

​@@baronvonjo1929Some Mercedes engines and gearboxes are still bulletproof however their interiors have been cheap crap since the 2000s. 70 to 90s were the peak for merc

[@christopherolivier2420]

I read somewhere people called it the Navara with Mascara 😂😂😂

[@sbomorse]

I'm in the UK and this is brand new information! Perfectly sums up the X-Class then.

[@BigBoy_Thegamer]

Lol

[@Justin_0241]

Mercedes-Benz Navara

[@johnlamb3101]

Same engine!

[@KyleJHB]

@@johnlamb3101 Only in the 250d, the 350d used a Mercedes-Benz engine.

[@Commentator541]

They invested exactly $10 into that re-badge, so of course no one took it seriously

[@hedydd2]

They did it on the cheap and nothing like the interesting concept vehicles. They attached a Mercedes badge premium price on it and very few people were fooled into paying it. Its sales failure soon condemned it to an early death and that failure in turn led to the total demise of Navara and variants production and sales in Europe. They couldn’t have made a bigger mess of their Spanish factory built truck marketing and sales if they really tried.

[@traviswalker8933]

​@@hedydd2 seems like a great story to destroy your competition.

[@paulsz6194]

I think it was more than that. How do you know the badge just wasn’t grafted off another current MB model?😂

[@metehankap3870]

In Turkey where pick-up trucks are not so big the X-Class was an instant hit among many people. Any contractor who wants to show off their money but still has to get on dirt gets an X-Class and takes it to an aftermarket shop. The usual treatment consists of a two tone paint job similar to a Maybach S Class, huge chrome wheels and the front grille swapped for a maybach style grille. Every trim is swapped for chrome and even the badges are replaced with maybach badges. I personally absolutely hate it, but this type of car has few but very dedicated followers in turkey.

[@Blackadder75]

If you see a Mercedes in Germany or Netherlands, you can bet a Turk drives it.. Turkish people LOVE Mercs

[@derpapito1391]

Why does that not surprise me a bit?

[@RoseSolane]

@@Blackadder75 The man who painted my house earlier this year had an X-Class. He came originally from Poland. I think they like Mercedes too 😀

[@mercoid]

Sounds tacky as hell.

[@BeesonsCars]

Lol I love that they give it the fake Maybach treatment like a Metris / Sprinter. Hope they do some interior mods too.

[@WoolfJ35]

I know a Mercedes benz dealership manager and he told me how dumb it was that they didn't try it out in the US. He knew plenty of customers who would have bought that truck without hesitation. A midsize Benz truck would have been a huge hit in the states. If they would have made an AMG models and especially an 4x4² model it would have sold like hot cakes.

[@KuroRyuu86]

I'm going to guess its because the America doesn't have a good Mid Sized truck market. Where as the other countries that do can use it for their full potential. I guess with the Success of the Amarok, they were searching for that high. Too expensive, and wrong (Nissan) brand to use for their cause.

[@Kierdziol]

@@KuroRyuu86 NA have Tacoma, Frontier, Range, Colorado/Canyon twins, Gladiator and unibody Ridgeline. It won't be wrong to base truck on Nissan if they intended to sold it among their utility range, but as passenger car - it might work better if they based in on one of their crossovers, like GLC or GLE. That would require more resources to spend and they definitely weren't risking that much on the project.

[@CRAPO2011]

Perhaps it would have been a flop like the Metris

[@oceanheadted]

That’s a weird decision, ignoring what’s probably the world’s biggest pick up truck market.

[@CRAPO2011]

@@oceanheadted People won't be impressed by the Benz badge on a Nissan in USA. Vw also never bothered importing the bland as white bread AMAROK to usa

[@MagnificentlyHighAlien]

How freaking cool that old-school Mercedes ute is.

[@felixcat9318]

@@MagnificentlyHighAlien I agree, its an absolute beaut' ute!

[@penzlic]

Iirc there was guy in USA (no surprise there) who even made pick ups out of s600 (grosse) mercs.

[@fosterfuchs]

@@penzlic Die he sell it to dictators who wanted to stack their victims in the truck bed?

[@Cooe.]

Is it actually a ute? We sure this is based on a car platform? If we're doing the dumb modern thing of calling every pickup a "ute", even if it's not a "car-truck", that's lame. 🤷

[@hlavco]

@@Cooe. He's talking about the Argentinian ones that were built from the sedan kits.

[@amaccama3267]

They were available here in Australia. Though the general rule was that if your tradesman showed up in one you already knew, he charged too much money.

[@DiscoFang]

The f*kd up part of that is no one bats an eye when a tradie turn up in a V8 diesel Land Cruiser ute at an even higher price. Just seen as successful.

[@photografiq_presents]

* If your tradesman showed up, you already knew, he charged too much money. Fixed :)

[@JC-zg4xe]

Now they show up in Rams and F150s which cost even more HAHAHA

[@nowukkas2472]

And yet the lease deals being offered by MB were better than Nissan or Toyota could manage! The 350 was a very good drive considering its base.

[@Kamo442]

​@@DiscoFang I just think that guy must love spending money/being in debt

[@cudak888]

Thank you for including the W115-based pickups from Argentina - was hoping these would be included.

[@otm646]

I desperately want one of these in the States so badly.

[@cudak888]

@@otm646 Funny thing, they might have come as knock-down kits, but the quarters, rear panel, and bed along are all clearly unique stampings that would be pretty challenging to replicate, even with some good MIG or TIG skills. My personal kink for Argentinian home brews are their final-generation Ford Falcons. I just love the idea of a Falcon wearing the front and rear end taken straight from Ford of Germany - complete with the taillights off a Taunus. Show up at a US car meet with one of those and you'll _absolutely_ twist people's minds; I'll bet it'll get confused for a GAZ-3102 or 31029. Also, it's just fun to say you have a "1991 Ford Falcon" anywhere other than the UK or Argentina.

[@nicce12]

@@otm646 I need one as well!

[@yissibiiyte]

Rebadging is a dangerous game. Sometimes it outsells it's own original (like half of all Toyotas) and sometimes nobody falls for it.

[@Flies2FLL]

They didn't sell the Navara in the US, so this MB would be unique. I think it would have worked.

[@Noah_E]

​@@Flies2FLLNissan produced trash vehicles for people with credit too bad to qualify for a Korean brand. Why would anyone pay the Benz premium for that?

[@Flies2FLL]

@@Noah_E I had an '82 Datsun/Nissan Maxima that was pretty good. I bought it in 1998 for use in Indianapolis. I sold it a year later; Last I heard of it was 2008 when it was still being used by airline pilots in that city as an airport car. I nicknamed it "Betty the Brown Beater" and that name stuck-

[@lotto77102]

Part of the problem too is that for utes like this platform sharing across companies was a completely new thing when the X-Class launched. You'd get the inter-alliance platform sharing like the Ford Ranger/Mazda BT-50 and Isuzu D-Max/Chevy Colorado/Holden Rodeo/whatever else GM did with it, but something between companies that would otherwise be at odds like this was completely unheard of, at least in this segment. Now ironically I believe it's only the Navara, Triton, and Hilux that *aren't* shared out to a vastly different company, everything else is part of some weird alliance like the X-Class because there's just not a ton of margin in the segment anymore.

[@Lollllllz]

@@lotto77102 I think the problem is them marketing the x-class as a luxury truck leading to elevated expectations. The buyers of the Colt T120SS and the Isuzu Bison didn't care much that they are reengined Suzuki Carry and Mitsubishi L300 trucks but the X-class prospective buyer would take offense to a Mercedes product at Mercedes Prices that is built on a Nissan platform with, at launch, only a Nissan Engine in a Nissan Plant and if they look hard enough see Nissan Switch gear that any mechanical changes Mercedes made to the X-class will be received as something they asked Nissan to come up with.

[@arniebln]

In Germany we had some funny people turning the nameplate on the back of the X350d a 180 degrees around, so it spells POSEX, which is nothing else then... well.... adult activity done at the human rear. Maybe another reason for the failure.

[@flori5548]

If you hadn’t posted it already I would’ve made this comment 😂😂😂 Wir haben uns alle totgelacht 😅 P.S. If also they had kept some of the extravagance of the show cars and not just made the production version so Nissan with new bumpers for 2x the money ….

[@AWMJoeyjoejoe]

God I love Germans! 😂😂😂 Greetings from the UK.

[@JK061996]

This reminds me of the Hyundai ix35, which promptly returned to the Tucson nameplate for the next generation

[@Alexander_l322]

My girlfriend is German! I will ask for posex 😂

[@chrisbiewer-rallye-info]

Haha, I saw that too! I had to move to UK to understand British Humour, to now discover boring Mercedes can do it too! I guess the X-Class was a joke from the first moment?

[@cartilagehead]

America long-ago cracked the luxury/ultra-expensive pickup truck puzzle: the trick is to either provide one (or ideally multiple) options for a luxury trim and appearance package, one (or ideally multiple) options for an "ultra high performance, no-compromises factory sport truck" package, and an additional list of options and customization a mile long in order to squeeze every possible dime out of your customer. The key thing is to make sure that you don't split the range, and that the underlying truck is ostensibly the same at the high and low end of the market. What I mean is: if you try to call the $80k+ version of an F150 something other than an F150, it will fail. But if you just have a luxury trim of the F150 (or rather like three of them) then that'll sell gangbusters. Turns out the trick to sell well-heeled truck buyers on a ~six figure truck is to make them feel like they're still an everyman, like they're still grounded and humble, like they can park their expensive status symbol next to the base model fleet/work truck version of their vehicle and still hang.

[@tng2057]

It is a Nissan Nivarra made in Spain rebadged. The biggest con MB can come up with.

[@daveyoung325]

Nah thats the Mercedes Citan which is just a rebadged Renault Kangoo and it's horrible just cheap and nasty with a Mercedes badge stuck on it

[@DrLoverLover]

Yes?

[@Abracadabra-sy8rk]

​@@daveyoung325Mercedes vans are always cheaply made, vans aren't meant to be luxurious but utilitarian.

[@256ElNino]

With the also identical and even less sucessful Renault Alaskan build alongside both. :D

[@daveyoung325]

@@Abracadabra-sy8rk sprinters are fine citans are horrible

[@100cele]

The AI-country song at the beginning really takes the cake...

[@TheNotoriousCPS]

I was wondering what that was!😆

[@riffswithtim4216]

Bought one back in 2020. Used 250d with roughly 40k kilometres. It did not let me down ever. I use its capabilities to transport my own and my friends mtbs and to carry heavy musical equipment which does not fit into a normal estate wagon. Mastered everything i have thrown at it so far. Perfect allrounder for me atleast. Greetings from Germany!

[@fossmarkluni]

I have owned a X350d for 5 years now, and it's a great car. The driveline is all Mercedes with the great OM642 paired with 722.9 7G-Tronic Plus transmission. It pulls trailers extremely well and accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 7,5 seconds. There are some signs of the Navara platform, but it's suprisingly different from the Navara in both exterior and interior. The Mercedes Comand system with 8,4 inch display and all the controls the same as any other Mercedes. They did way more than slap on a Mercedes logo on a Navara, it's suprising how different it is, most important is that fantastic Mercedes driveline.

[@felixcat9318]

A shoddy, grotesque badge engineering project which fooled absolutely no one...

[@guytatler9769]

the funniest part being that the Navara it's based on has been produced since 2004...

[@killingtime7350]

😂 indeed but it sure sucked in a lot of Aussie wog tradies.

[@Kierdziol]

@@guytatler9769 It's based on newer model (D23), produced since 2014.

[@jimtaylor294]

Typical Mercedes-Benz moment 😂

[@-POISON-]

Thank you for the video. I have an X350d and it's an excellent truck. Good performance, excellent comfort and features.

[@needleontherecord]

There are a few of these on the roads in New Zealand and Australia. They are called Nercedes or Missans.

[@bicchieresmusi]

Before the Mark LT, Lincoln sold the equally unsuccesful 2002 Blackwood, although it was RWD only

[@otm646]

That's really from a different era. Luxury pickups hadn't become a thing yet. Remember the bed was carpet lined in the Lincoln.

[@CRAPO2011]

It was successful in Mexico and lasted another generation

[@tomlobos2871]

fun fact about the X350d. the german word for a human rear side is "po". someone turned the badge upside down for social media and this gave a country tons of giggles.

[@gwheregwhizz]

Only ones I've seen were used for extreme on-roading.

[@samwiseknows]

Lol

[@thembanjoko2844]

Mercedes X-Class, despite being based on a Nissan Navara/NP300, it was a sales flop, even in big pickup truck markets like South Africa and Australia, it was no match for the likes of the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, VW Amarok, Isuzu D-Max and even the Navara which it was based on. Higher class families here in South Africa preferred the Amarok over the X-Class.

[@chrisg1234fly]

Where I am in SA, X-class owners soon realised that they were being talked about for the wrong reason and soon it became the "company car' that they were supplied with, as oppposed to having bought personally.

[@BlitzAce-pj9jr]

And don't forget to leave the Navara/NP300 was way cheaper to afford

[@mishmashmedley]

is it just me, or is the audio track just a bit out of sync?

[@samwiseknows]

It's ai...

[@mishmashmedley]

@@samwiseknows i've met the dude, he's not ai...

[@samwiseknows]

@@mishmashmedley so have I, in Kent!

[@kitko33]

Yeah, purveyor of high class limousines :) With some engines shared with ultra-budget Dacias (Renault's budget brand).

[@martinsvensson6884]

Not in those models though.

[@Kierdziol]

@@martinsvensson6884 Indeed. It's only subcompact executive Mercedes cars that use those engines.

[@KLA1DD]

Fortunately enough they finally stopped with most Renault engines in their facelifted 2024 models

[@javidaderson]

I distinctly remember that one episode of The Grand tour where they were testing midsize pickup trucks and the Mercedes tailgate couldn't close because the tray was bent because a bunch of empty barrels rolled around in the back.

[@eyeswideopen7450]

The Cyber Truck has one thing in common with the X class. The Developers did not know what the target group of the vehicle was. In both cases id does not really exist.

[@Rudenbehr]

Cybertruck will actually be successful and have its fans however. This thing will be forgotten on a Wikipedia entry.

[@eyeswideopen7450]

@@Rudenbehr fans yes. Buisness sucess i do not think so.

[@jd_the_cat]

@@RudenbehrCybertruck and successful don’t belong in the same sentence

[@Rudenbehr]

@@jd_the_cat what else do you call the third highest selling EV of this year

[@jd_the_cat]

@@Rudenbehr It’s a fad

[@JossRickard]

These were a flash in the pan in Aus. They sold ok but they instantly faded away. The already horribly unreliable Navara, with a layer of unreliable Mercedes over the top was never going to last. There's barely any left on the road now.

[@lena19191]

Yep agree , I thought they might of done alright ..but I see none on the road today

[@Flying_GC]

The Navara is not horribly unreliable, and you think the X Classes have all gone to the scrappers in less than 5 years? It's ok not to like them but loose the tinted glasses.

[@MAtogable]

In Argentina, they went ahead with the project without Mercedes, that is Nissan + Renault and rebadged the Frontier (Navara) into a Renault pick up... and guess what, they didn't sell either. Peugeot try the same playbook rebadging a Chinese pickup, another bust. Mid size pick up is a challenging segment if your name is not Toyota

[@hedydd2]

The Renault Alaskan version of mechanically exactly the same pickup was announced but the whole Navara sales in Europe and the factory itself was shut down before any were sold, certainly in the UK.

[@anoukpoelmans2768]

@@hedydd2 I drove today an Alaskan from work to a Renault garage for a service. They where certainly build and sold. But you won't see them as often. I see more X-classes on the road.

[@Kierdziol]

At least they still have Oroch (although it doesn't sell as good as unibody Fiat pick-ups designed for South American markets).

[@josearos]

Changan Hunter = Peugeot Landtrek

[@davianoinglesias5030]

The midsize pickup buyers are the real tradies,, they want reliability and fuel efficiency. You can't beat Toyota when it comes to those two things. Mercedes should try the giant pickup segment where buyers are luxury buyers

[@giftysambo4238]

I remember in South journalist's were not impressed with the quality, it was said it was a benz by badge only. I remember it had cheap Nissan rebranded key fob.

[@anthonyfrench3169]

This is the second best opening in Big Car's history...well done dude!!

[@biastv1234]

In Australia it’s called a ute ( not pickup) , the Mercedes Ute was a sales flop . Being a nissan Navara didn’t help, in Australia the Navara is known as the least reliable light for wheel drive in the market

[@BrickNewton]

I remember it was laughed at here in NZ as everyone knew it was an overpriced rebadged Navara and then went out and brought a hilux

[@charlienorton2337]

Old navaras are reliable though

[@Kamo442]

My thoughts exactly, why pay for an unreliable, expensive car when you can buy cheaper out there

[@backstreamnorth]

Same thing here in Sweden. In the north we have a huge market for pickup trucks like Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger (mostly raptors and wildtrak), VW Amarok, Isuzu D-Max and more but almost no one buys a Navara and the X-class is something you rarely ever see.

[@backstreamnorth]

You even see more Ram, F-150, Silverado etc. than a Nissan or Mercedes

[@GenesisOnMoney]

Hands down the best analysis I've ever come across on this truck!

[@BigCar2]

There were a lot of journalists reports saying it failed because customers saw it as a Nissan and didn't buy it. But they didn't support that with any evidence so I decided to leave it out.

[@CodewortSchinken]

I think the X-class was a reaction to the VW Amarok. The Amarok was too expensive for a comercial vehicle or fleet truck but showed you could sell a semi-premium lifestyle-truck to private buyers in a market that previously had been dominated by utilitarian and cost-consious, japanese competition. Mercedes thought they could easily get a piece of that pie with a rebadged Navara. But the average customer in that market was already acustomed to lower status japanese brands. The Mercedes Citank Kangoo-rebadge works because because Mercedes can sell it to self employed tradies who want something slightly nicer and fleet customers who also operate Sprinters or other MB-trucks. These advantages didn't apply to a rebadged Nissan sold via their car division intended for use as a personal vehicle.

[@milksheihk]

2:52 There's a not insignificant number of those w115 utes In Australia but they are all 280 petrols, not 220Ds, they all look professionally done & it does seem like something that the factory that was already building local market Mercs at the time would do.

[@leedouglass4106]

Yay happy Friday Big Car!!

[@Mitsugejl]

Mercedes W124 300D was also built in small numbers as a pickup by the danish company Sæby Karosserifabrik 😊

[@maglekaer1]

Not to forget the German coachbuilder Binz, who converted the E-Class station wagons (W201) into a pickup trucks as well.

[@brickm8dk336]

Some W140 S-classes, Porsche 928s and Chevrolet Camaros were also converted to pickups. But I do not know if it was the same company.

[@belcopride]

In Australia, these were universally mocked! Anyone that dared to bring theirs to the worksite was called a 'flog', 'wnkr' and a lot worse. Could never escape that fact that it was a more expensive Navara.

[@Afriqueleblanq]

Yes, because Aussies are so full of VB that they don't know how daft their Hilux fanboyism is. Take it from whom it comes.

[@doodskie999]

Its a rebadged Nissan Navara(Frontier in other markets). Im not saying the Navara is bad, its actually pretty good and super reliable and a top seller here in Asia. Its just no one wants to justify buying an overpriced Nissan Navara 😂😂

[@Danger_mouse]

Here in Australia, sales stalled before they began. Our car market is dominated by 1t utes (pick ups). Many are bought, ostensibly for a business for tax reasons, but most don't see heavy use. What killed the Benz is the fact that everyone knew it was a reworked Navara (Yes, fairly heavily worked, but still a Navara) In places like building sites, if you turned up to the job in a Benz ute, well we were just a clown who'd spent $30k too much on his Navara and had expensive servicing to match 😁 I own a 2017 Navara, and it's been a good vehicle. Rides nicely on the coil spring suspension and tows very well, but I'm really glad to have paid half the price for the low spec SL I own vs the top spec Mercedes 🙂 ... And that's where they lost the market.

[@Danger_mouse]

@@hmao4466 Ha ha, yeah that's where I was going with the comment, but I wasn't going to say it out loud 🤣

[@DiscoFang]

S'funny tho', I'd love a Navara with a 6cyl 3L diesel. But it's not worth the snarky BS from other idiots. The worst badge snobs are the reverse badge snobs.

[@Danger_mouse]

@@DiscoFangYeah, that might be true mate but I don't think I'd like to deal with an out of warranty Benz diesel at today's prices.

[@DiscoFang]

@@Danger_mouseNeither a Nissan diesel with high kms. Tbh, I’d trust the Merc diesel more for long term reliability.

[@Danger_mouse]

@@DiscoFang Well, it's a Renault diesel and they have heaps of them running around Europe in the Renault Master van with over 500k on them. I'm no Renault fan, but I am a mechanic and I would not go anywhere near the a Benz with high km on it. That said, nobody drives cars that far any more, they chuck them out and get a new one. All the best 👍

[@colinhill-zq1sk]

An earlier example of a luxury car based pick-up was the The Armstrong Siddeley Utility Coupe from about 1949 to 1952 and sold principally in Australia.

[@RotchildFrancoisJr]

Audio seems to be out of sync? Or is it just me 1:28

[@Jon.S]

Here in NZ where our top selling vehicles have been utes (pickups) for years, it was a big disappointment. The "Navara-ness" was just too obvious, and with that came some of the notorious reliability issues from that same vehicle. It was also very easy to damage bits like the tailgate, which would bend in the middle from normal use. A shame because I thought it looked great and the concept interior was awesome, just sucks they didn't follow through and do it properly.

[@goncalo33]

11:56 They did before that: the Lincoln Blackwood.

[@gedaman]

We don’t speak about the Lincoln Blackwood. The pathetic truck from 2002 that lasted less than one model year and took 3 1/2 years to sell all of its inventory.

[@SockyNoob]

That Mercedes W115 ute is freaking awesome

[@BlastbeatNS]

Mercedes had one more pickup. Sprinter was available in that configuration.

[@udenszirnis1644]

Sprinter chasis flatbeds and box trucks are all the rage in European market. Sprinters are #1 chasis for car recovery vehicles. I think i have seen a few as a crane chasis.

[@Banom7a]

fastest vehicle on the autobahn 😂

[@rzbrzotrz]

Now please do a R class. Unlike this machine, it is somewhat unique. And lasted a bit longer

[@isaacsorensen8377]

12:19 with the Cybertruck ruining Tesla's reputation on how much of a joke it is

[@stco2426]

Nice vid. Didn't know this existed so you've educated, informed and entertained. Thanks.

[@jasoncarpp7742]

Call me old-school, but I've always seen a pickup truck as a utility vehicle, a vehicle meant to carry a bag of cement to a job, or a lawn mower to a lawn somewhere around town. I'm all for comfort and safety, but I also appreciate durability, functional utility, and serviceability.

[@samwiseknows]

The funny thing, I'd you don't bat an eye lid when you see a mercedes van... 11:50

[@RealLaone]

Pure beauty not gonna lie. That other concept version is epic, its actually how I thought it'd look back in the day

[@BOABModels]

I don't think I've ever seen one of these on the road in the UK. I'll keep an eye out now though. Land Rover are turning the new Defender into a pick up. That's more of a luxury SUV than the old workhorse now.

[@glinleyt]

Very professional video. Thanks for making this.

[@robertcox5469]

Interesting video. No wonder it failed, it was a badge engineered Nissan! Mercedes trashed its fantastic reputation in the late 1990s. Today its products are rarely any better than the smart offerings from South Korea… Certainly the awful blob designs of today are nothing compared to the rational and great Benz designs of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s when a Mercedes was something very special. My last Mercedes was a comfortable E320 CDI estate, however, the constant engine issues (never resolved by the hopeless dealer) made me ditch it, never to return… I’ve stayed with BMW ever since… A great shame, for one of the world’s greatest brands…

[@NotSanakan]

Modern trucks with short beds and cabs more suited for family leisure rides always annoying me somewhat. It's not truck, yet it's not huge family suv either. It's like an instrument for two tasks and it can't be good in both of them.

[@wintersbattleofbands1144]

5:45. Sorry, Lincoln beat everyone to the premium punch in 2002 with the Blackwood and in 2006 with the Mark LT. Neither sold well.

[@m6780]

The argument could be made that Chevrolet did it even earlier with the 1955-1959 Chevrolet Cameo. A more country club acceptable pickup truck with high style and what passed for luxury in those days. Swoopy bodywork, lots of chrome and whitewall tires.

[@garrylawless3550]

Thanks for the video, I've only seen one near Manchester in England, a couple of years ago. No more since!. I'm sure there are more out there, but it does seem a rare vehicle. 👍🏻

[@pakdolan]

If they designed the pickup based on the G then it would be different. It would be very utilitarian and desirable.

[@adamroberge1201]

From 2002 to 2006 Cadillac sold a pick up truck version of the escalade Called escaladeExt which was a re-badged Chevy avalanche Of course not many were sold as much as avalanches were sold And I had a motto car of one

[@jamesengland7461]

Americans love luxury pickups- just with ordinary names, like Ford, Chevy, Ram, GMC. They will buy very luxurious trim levels, like King Ranch, etc. You mentioned Rivian and Cybertruck- they're not even more expensive than high-trim legacy HD pickups.

[@artureff3046]

And the key is they may be really a Heavy Duty for haulage (US drivers are not limited to 3500kg)

[@DrLoverLover]

Yeah it shows

[@buckykattnj]

X-class would compete with the Toyota, Honda, Nissan pickup market... which one could argue does not have a high end luxury models, and not GM, Ford or Mopar. Of course, it also would have helped if the X-class wasn't half-baked... but I'm looking at this if they joined the NA market now. After all, the Hyundai and KIA are looking at this market, so some of these manufacturers think there is more meat here.

[@AWMJoeyjoejoe]

King Ranch? Lmao! Sounds like a fancy salad dressing.

[@Kierdziol]

@@buckykattnj If You mean new Kia truck (Tasman), it most likely won't be sold in NA.

[@lukelovescars08]

As a suggestion for a future video, I would like to see a compilation of failed, short-lived or limited edition models made by German Big Three, such as R-Class(people carrier that had a CLS-like styling) and Vaneo(a budget Vito). As for the X-Class, it was a Nissan Navara, that was sold outside Europe as the Renault Alaskan.

[@GaryJohnWalker1]

Not aiming for the US was perhaps the oddest decision - I think they are ready for luxury pickups given the high pricedtop level F250 and GMC equivalents. Merc is more of a name than Lincoln has been for decades. But then again, I've never understood the popularity of pickups. Maybe mid America, Oz bush and the equivalent in Argentina and South Africa. Where you can throw stuff in the back and still get from A to B in it. But as a general purpose car for suburbia and hobby farmers, no. Even if you have motorbikes and small boats to lug around on the back something more flat bed like makes far more sense. Or jiust a big van, like a transit. Pickups - cramped passenger pace, open bed with at best a canvas cover, weird.

[@Blackadder75]

pick ups are horrible cars, the only reason for their popularity is bad laws, that exclude pickups from all kinds of regulations aimed at decreasing the environmental effects of combustion engines . The result is that car makers push pickups and abandon normal cars

[@Cyber_kumo]

2 words: Chicken tax. A truck is consider "farm equipment" and require companies to pay a hefty tariff. If they wanted to sell it in the US, MB has to build it in one of its American factories. More than likely, MB would have to have an agreement with Nissan share the production line with the Frontier. It probably would flop like all the other luxury branded truck like the Lincoln LT and Blackwood or the Cadillac Escalade EXT.

[@buckykattnj]

@@Cyber_kumo Mercedes and Nissan also have production in Mexico, though it may not be optimal. NAFTA and the USMCA negate the chicken tax on trucks from Mexico and Canada. I think that Mercedes could have easily found at least 10K~15K sales in the US, even while just picking up the crumbs left over by the major players in the truck market, just because a certain percentage of people just swoon when they see the Mercedes badge.

[@baronvonjo1929]

​@@Blackadder75After driving trucks for work I understand why they are popular. I have yet to find a car body as spacious and comfortable as a full size pick up. No sedan could even compete with the space. And they feel different to drive. But in a good way. The new ones are getting really big for no reason though.

[@baronvonjo1929]

I dont see it doing well in the US because it was a midsize truck. It would probably be priced like a full size truck but with the cramped space of a midsize truck. Also I doubt it would appeal to truck buyers.

[@dallasfrost1996]

Here in New Zealand, where pickup trucks & SUV's dominate our passenger vehicle market, the Mercedes X class was a huge failure, I can't recall the last time I saw one on the road. Over here, the biggest compeditors in the pickup segement are the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, Mitsubishi Triton, & Nissan Navara (a likely reason why it's Mercedes twin never did well here). The Ford Ranger has been our best-selling passenger vehicle for the last 10 years straight. The first choice for luxury pickups here in New Zealand are usually the full-size American V8 pickups, which have far nicer interiors with all newest tech available. American pickups (Ram & Silverado in particular) have become surprisingly popular in New Zealand & Australia in recent years. Due to the success, GM is now expanding their lineup to include full-size V8 luxury SUV's, the GMC Yukon Denali is set to enter the New Zealand & Australian market beginning of 2025.

[@SamSayaz]

Hello big car :)

[@seenile6962]

Always enjoy your content, really informative. Cheers

[@yissibiiyte]

I see these things absolutely everywhere in South Africa. I guess all 30,000-ish units made are just highly concentrated in my area.

[@gerarduspoppel2831]

I see them sometimes here in the Netherlands. A lot of building companies have one

[@Andreschannel_SA]

I've seen one in the last 6 years or so in South Africa. Maybe these double cabs (not pick-ups) are not so concentrated in my area. Are they still being sold as new? Do they still exist as used?? According to Automotive News Europe, only 16 700 units were sold in 2018 in Europe, Australia and South Africa combined. Only 973 units were sold in South Africa in 2019 - versus the Toyota Hilux, which sold 40 934 units.07 Feb 2020 www.google.com/search?q=Mercedes+X+class+total+sales+in+South+Africa&sca_esv=24731a508b288d28&sca_upv=1&rlz=1C1MSIM_enZA859ZA859&sxsrf=ADLYWIKd22wVrw8tHvPDhoAXe8IJ2_hiqg%3A1725647153699&ei=MUnbZt2gKuKJ-d8PgJ3jwQI&ved=0ahUKEwid_enM-K6IAxXiRP4FHYDOOCgQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=Mercedes+X+class+total+sales+in+South+Africa&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiLE1lcmNlZGVzIFggY2xhc3MgdG90YWwgc2FsZXMgaW4gU291dGggQWZyaWNhMggQABiABBiiBDIIEAAYgAQYogQyCBAAGIAEGKIESPseUO4JWMUZcAF4AZABAJgByAKgAfINqgEFMi00LjK4AQPIAQD4AQGYAgSgAqMHwgIKEAAYsAMY1gQYR8ICChAhGKABGMMEGAqYAwCIBgGQBgiSBwcxLjAuMS4yoAfsFg&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

[@hedydd2]

@@gerarduspoppel2831 I’ve only seen one in my area of the UK during the past year. Outside the holiday season, about one in every four vehicles are pickup trucks or vans. A very high proportion of the pickups are work trucks owned by farms, builders, utility and agricultural contractors and so on and they tow trailers very often. All kinds of heavy duty trailers. I’ve seen less than five X-Class trucks on the road since they were launched a good few years ago and I am in pickup truck country [West Wales]. The big sellers currently are Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, Isuzu D-Max and there are a surprising number of Ssangyong around. Nissan and Mitsubishi have abandoned the market and so have Fiat but I actually see far more Fiat pickups than Mercedes [probably five or six a year as opposed to one a year for Mercedes]. I see many Mitsubishi, Nissan and all the other brands literally daily.

[@djdrastic1]

The Sandton sidewalk special

[@mikejfranklin7000]

1970s W115 pickup looks great! Love the body-colour hub caps.

[@whatwelearned]

I think the syncing might be a bit off old chap

[@christianronn5301]

I came here to say this. Big Car has pretty much always had ever so slight issues with a/v sync, to the point where I second-guess myself if I’m imagining it or not. This time it’s really obvious. Thanks for the video.

[@aregularperson7573]

@@christianronn5301yeah I have the sync system in my F-150 and it’s okay when I first connect it but when I turn the car off and come back turn it on it goes 2 times faster than it should be it eventually it goes back to normal but it’s just very annoying.

[@KALIMONINGRAD]

I did noticed that mate

[@JORE4203]

Fine for me

[@DrLoverLover]

Not an issue with an automatic

[@shero113]

Thanks for a fascinating look at a forgotten car. The new Grenadier has a pick-up option. One wonders how it will do?

[@RandomTrinidadian]

The sad thing... we all know mercedes can make a pick up from.the ground up. Make zero sense to.just rebadge a Nissan when you xan just buy a Nissan

[@BlakesPipes]

Loved this review sir. Need a under 20k truck to come to the US!

[@killahurtz6786]

A 4 door short-box version of the G-class would have worked just fine in the US market. X-class would have flopped because urban buyers would prefer a Mercedes SUV and rural buyers would prefer a more capable truck. Also I think Europe as a whole misunderstands the US truck market. The luxury trim levels of the F-150/Ram/Silverado sell well because the base versions of these trucks have a proven record as good workhorses. A base model of these trucks does 10-15 years of work with its original owner, 10 years with the scrap collector who bought it second hand and another 10 years as an unregistered vehicle on a farm once too many defects are on it for it to pass road inspection. The closet any foreign manufacturer has ever come to entering a pickup truck in the US market thats as close to a US truck as you can get was Toyota with its second generation Tundra. Especially the one with the 5.7L V8 "million mile" engine lol.

[@hedydd2]

The only reason foreign pickups do not sell in the US is the protectionist so-called ‘chicken tax’ that makes all non-domestic trucks grossly uncompetitive. As far as I know the Ford Maverick, Ranger and a few similar trucks of similar size sell to the X-Class sell quite well as long as they are assembled in the USA.

[@killahurtz6786]

@@hedydd2 I agree with you that the Chicken Tax is decisive in keeping foreign made light trucks out of the US market. Im just saying, even if it was assembled in the USA, the Mercedes X class would have to have been as usable and rugged as a "Afghan Danger Ranger" in order for it to sell well at its price point among the demographic who needs to buy it in reasonable numbers to make it profitable. Foreign type trucks that Europe likes, such as the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier...the people who buy these for "active lifestyle" cant afford an X-class. And by the time they can, they dont need so much truck because they are less active. Toyota trucks sell reasonably well in the States because after 20 years of seeing them ride around desert battlefields, they have credibility in the critical tradesmen market. But an X-class...Mercedes is well liked in the US, but it wouldnt be a credible vehicle for that market, leaving only a niche of niche buyers. A G-class truck though would have been credible and been able to compete with Wrangler/Bronco/FJ Cruiser/ect.

[@Kierdziol]

It won't be that easy with G-class, as it is more expensive than any other rugged mid-size suv on the market (even in W462 and W464 variants that are stripped from luxury improvements).

[@thomasfrancis5747]

I'll stretch things a bit by throwing in the Tata Telcoline/Loadbeta/Tatamobile 206 which was a smaller sister of a licence built Merc with angular Mercedes 190-like bodywork. Always thought that JLR should have done a badge engineering job with Isuzu on their pickups to retain the agricultural market when the Defender went posh and expensive - little conflict of commercial interest.

[@guillermovalenzuelamartine2972]

Well, at least the Lincoln Mark LT lasted until 2014 in Mexico (we are in North America, too...)

[@CRAPO2011]

@@guillermovalenzuelamartine2972 cool to see the mexi spec trucks. Lobos are cool too

[@alejoferreyra3341]

Hello big car! Greetings from Argentina 🎉

[@Swiss4.2]

Haven't watched the video yet but I can already tell you the reason it failed is because it was just a rebadged Nissan Nivarra. I fear the new VW Amarok will go the same way as the X-Class as its now a rebadged Ford Ranger; which is a shame really because the old VW Amarok was a brilliant pickup.

[@alejoferreyra3341]

In Argentina we have a very long life VW Amarok. It was presented just a couple of weeks ago. The original Amarok but a little bit modernized (or tried to)

[@danielguzman9061]

​@@alejoferreyra3341 yeah the Amarok with the 8 ball in the dash

[@cartilagehead]

Not gonna lie, when I saw that "pure" trim level of the X-Class with the manual transmission and the cloth seats at 8:38, my American heart skipped a beat and I briefly forgot that it was/forgave it for being a Nissan. X Class probably would've sold fairly well here but it would've needed to be a substantially bigger and more involved investment from Mercedes, probably involving the development and introduction of more their own chassis, etc. There are a lot of rebadge jobs that do well here and have done very well here, but I don't think the "it's actually an older Nissan underneath" secret would've made it past the notoriously competitive, judgy, and some would say insecure US truck market. And it's not like they could've simply given the Ridgeline treatment to their SUV platform either- that would've almost certainly flopped hard, especially as a luxury product- they would've had to come in with their own full-fat body-on-frame truck, and it wouldn't have sold well enough to make that kind of investment worthwhile.

[@mledwaba7]

To be honest the x-class should have been a g-wagon pick up 😭

[@shebbs1]

Nice, Aussie G-class fire appliance.

[@actuallyusingmyrealnameher5061]

I saw one of these earlier and was impressed by the placement of the reversing camera but at the same time thought it’d be useless when transporting goods requiring the tailgate down.

[@tomas9830]

Argentinian here, i was hoping you would bring upnthw old W115, they were famous in my town between bakers lol, we also had a Peugeot 504 pick up diesel!

[@pedroguedes525]

The twingo shares the platform with the forfour and not the fortwo.

[@mohammedkhaliedrafsan3547]

Happy Friday Big Car 🔴❤️🇧🇩❤️🔴

[@andrewalexander1086]

Mercedes don’t make high end cars anymore, I’m on my fourth GLE in 18. Months have rejected 3 already due to faults

[@udontknoathing7243]

Mercedes now is just a Renault 😢

[@JohnGuidetti751]

@@udontknoathing7243Lol an engine option in the A class got you calling a whole brand Renault are you that clueless?

[@Fred-O86]

Why keep buying faulty vehicles from them?

[@andrewalexander1086]

@@udontknoathing7243 no they are not , only some of their smaller engines. My GLE 450D is a Mercedes straight six cylinder engine

[@andrewalexander1086]

@@Fred-O86 I part/ ex my X5 for a new GLE in January 2033 and I can tell you that the build quality of the BMW X5 is far better than Mercedes in my opinion but thought I would try something different. The issues I had were nothing to do with reliability but silly little things. On my first two GLE’s it was the navigation, when in central London it would go blank with that little circle trying to reconnect which it couldn’t. So the law on new vehicles in the uk that are under six months old says that the main dealer has one chance to fix it if not you can reject the vehicle which is what I did. My third GLE was burning oil for some reason and every ten days it needed topping up with 450ML of oil, there were no leaks on the engine or smoke coming out of the exhaust. However the way the warranty works from Mercedes is the dealer gets told try this first then that and then something else which worked to my advantage and rejected that one as well. Now my new one which is about 7 weeks old has just gone down to in between Max - Min on the oil again hoping it’s just because it’s new and breaking in. If it carries on I will give them one chance to fix it or reject it again. Reason I keep getting another one is simple , they refund all my money including my Part/ex money from my X5 plus compensation for stress. I then get another one and the dealer gives me £3K loyalty for coming back plus Mercedes are doing £6K off the price. So I’m driving around in a luxury vehicle without any depreciation whatsoever that’s why

[@StopDropandLOL]

My two cents since you used the Mark LT as an example as well. The issue was there wasn't enough of a distinction between it and the F-150 to make it worth the price difference Ford was asking at the time. Especially when it was selling along side the second generation Navigator which was leagues above it in interior quality and refinement. It was literally an F-150 lariat interior with special piping on the seats. But I can also see why Ford tried it that way. Remember the Lincoln Blackwood? It was a first generation Navigator with a tiny truck bed on it. The issue with that one was it wasn't enough of a truck to justify the price tag. Why pay a premium for a bed that is barely useable? No additional payload? Might as well just get a regular Navigator. They learnt their lesson though and just made an F-150 Platinum. I do believe if Mercedes put a bit more effort into the overall design (it doesn't necessarily need to be a ladder frame either, look at the Honda Ridgeline.. big success and based on a minivan platform), it would have been more successful. They did the bare minimum to set it apart from a spartan Nissan. It's not hard to see what bits are Nissan, they put very little of their own parts into the interior which arguably is the most important factor. They didn't even use their own seats or attempt to build up the Nissan ones. The 4WD selector switch that had so much emphasis placed on it, even with 4MAT, is a Nissan switch. The switch gear, the door trims, console, etc. This had quick cash grab written all over it, and it blew up in their faces. They innovated in 1998 with the introduction of the M-Class. Probably wanted to do the same thing with this but did it for pennies on the dollar in a segment that does not accept cutting corners.

[@khylerin70]

Mercedes Benz no longer have the same distinction they once had. They have become a German Toyota, with a variant for every demographic, and have lost their individuality with prestige. I feel it all ended after the W140 S class model.

[@bigmikeswiss]

Merc would be happy, to reach into Toyotas space for built quality and reliability. From the „A“ to „E“, from engines, electronic breakdowns to hefty corrosion even on low km models. QUALITY no longer ist highest ranking. There is nothing more, than good memories to long ago times, on customers, who did not yet buy a recent model!

[@73SDR]

North American trucks, in the last 30-ish years have increased greatly in their refinement, and availability of luxury options with the upper trim levels. A dedicated luxury truck likely wouldn't be enough "more" to generate demand from buyers. The target audience is just as happy to have a Platinum F-150 parked next to their Mercedes S-class. We're not driving the same occupational oriented trucks that we did in the 1970's and 1980's.

[@joshuawilson7023]

The taillights just screamed cheap truck, which is unfortunate. The wrap around LEDs would have been awesome

[@igormac88]

Mercedes showed the X-class to the press and dealers for Brazil, whose units would be made in Argentina. But since the deal was broken, it never came to be, and some say some dealers had major financial loss investing in marketing training and on.. I've seen the X-class at the Frankfurt auto show in 2018...and it really is just a Nissan Navara with Mercedes badges and some interior changes and a V6 engine in the top versions. But the plastics are the same.

[@christophersmith1155]

FORD - GMC DENALI - AND RAM already make premium pick up trucks. MB & BMW knew they couldnt compete with the quality and price point.

[@artureff3046]

With mighty V8 petrol engines and plenty of aftermarket modifications possible.....

[@seb_1504]

Quality and price point??? They have horrific automatic transmissions engine and electrical problems galore and priced the same as a Mercedes G class......

[@Spookieham]

It was never sold in the US so it is a pointless comparison. US trucks sell very little outside North America due to cost, size and seriously shit fuel efficiency.

[@mauritsvw]

@@Spookieham Also the X-Class isn't a "full size" truck, which the US seemingly prefers.

[@Iowa599]

The W115 is awesome! the Mercedes Benzo El Camino 8)

[@Nightlife135]

Fun Fact: if you spin the X350 d badge 180 degrees, in german it then says butts** 😂 (and yes, my humour really is this immature sometimes lol)

[@Gliese380]

last time germans tried to make a joke ww2 started so please just stop

[@AGNDoesTech]

06:21 Another Nissan-Mercedes Collab during that time period would be the GLA / infiniti Q(X)30 , which shared many components with each other.

[@ewanbent9028]

On what planet is a 5m long, diesel powered 4x4 pickup 'perfect for the urban environment'? It's the polar opposite, and those marketing w*nkers need sacking.

[@JohnMintyTech]

Probably some entitled arrogant and ego driven millennials.

[@hantms]

Weird that they didn't try it in Thailand; a country both mad for pick-ups AND Mercedes Benz.. Ford sells a the V6 Raptor pick-up there which is getting up there in price and performance.. 0-60mph in under 6 seconds.

[@michaelb6729]

You forgot to mention the Chicken Tax ! .... that's why the US miss out on the numerous 1tonne Ute's. It was not viable to sell in US, it has a saturated market and not manufactured state side. Also, the V6 Amarok release killed it. I have one, shares the same V6 TDI and 8sp ZF from the Q7 and Touareg, slightly detuned. However, perfect blend of prestige and workhorse depending what trim you have.

[@JMRJou]

I don't see why everyone hates it so much. I like the Navara and I like Mercedes-Benz styling, from that error. Win-win.

[@kaytee4863]

Here in the UK where we get snow and criminally Taxed on Landcriuser and similar I’m on my second X350, having had Hilux, Ranger and a V6 Amrok, (great but horrible ride when empty)I tow heavy machinery or it’s just me, either way it works well. To confuse / put in the same category the 2.3 and the V6 is the common mistake,Which I blame Mercedes for being so short sited, IMHO if they had only ever done the V6 people would have judged it on merit, who else had a similar truck at the time. (Sadly Navarra V6 finished due to emissions in Europe) I don’t think I know these give a bit of trouble like most modern vehicles, but the V6 is far more than a show pony, but in reliably terms it isn’t on par with Toyota’s I’ve owned.

[@kaytee4863]

PS Thanks for the Video

[@aaaabababa]

i have worked on both navaras and X-classes, and honestly the only real reasons why you should get one over the Navara really is the badge and on the top spec the Drivetrain and OM642, which gains you about 70hp and 100nm over the Nissan Diesels, but really, thats about it, if you didn't need that stuff and went for a slightly lower spec then it's really just pointless to buy the X over the Navara.

[@m00nh34d]

High end "pickups", aka Utes, are very much a thing in Australia, and very popular. The Ford Ranger Wildtrak costs an absolute fortune, comparable to a Merc or BMW SUV, but sells much, much better. There's a lot of tax breaks for tradies to get those vehicles, so they get the top of the line ones. If you're working on a mine, and are supplied a ute, you'll get a basic base model Hilux, if you own your own business and are in a trade of some sort, you've got the fully kitted out $100k+ Ranger.

[@Afriqueleblanq]

Make a video about Toyota and Lexus using Isuzu, Mazda and Yamaha engines, or sell rebadged BMW, Subaru, Daihatsu and Suzuki as Toyotas. Then offer inferior warranties.