Mercedes Plans Midsize Pickup Truck for 2020
Mercedes-Benz will market a pickup truck aimed at Europe, Australia, Latin America and South Africa by 2020.
The new midsize truck, not to be confused with the AMG 6×6 shown above, will be built by its commercial van division and have a metric ton of payload capacity (roughly 2,200 lbs).
“The Mercedes-Benz pickup will contribute nicely to our global growth targets,” Daimler chairman and Mercedes-Benz boss Dieter Zetsche said. “We will enter this segment with our distinctive brand identity and all of the vehicle attributes that are typical of the brand with regard to safety, comfort, powertrains, and value.”Mercedes hasn’t announced plans to sell the truck in the U.S., but if company executives chose to market its here, they would face the 25 percent “chicken tax” that typically dissuades automakers from importing trucks. For example, Volkswagen sells its Amarok pickup in Mexico, but not in the U.S. because of the tax.
Mercedes said the number of pickup trucks being used for private purposes around the world is increasing and that customers are asking for vehicles that offer more car-like specifications. The company said it plans to be the first premium automaker to fill that niche.
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Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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