Mercedes X-Class Unveiled

[Submariner]

thats a thin rope to hang a vehicle on; good business isn't predicated on "I bought it because I already knew the salesman."

(And Mercedes Sprinters became really rare around here once the competitors started selling comparable vehicles)

Merc sold 16,000 Sprinters in 2011, and 28,000 last year.

Meanwhile, Ford sold 147,000 Transits in 2016.

[Raza]

Interesting. Makes sense.


Mercedes Says It Needed Nissan To Help Create X-Class



Mercedes-Benz has hit out at critics calling its X-Class nothing more than a re-badged Nissan Navara saying automakers must use economics of scale when building light commercial vehicles.

In an interview with Motoring at the international debut of the X-Class in Cape Town, South Africa, Mercedes-Benz Vans global head Volker Mornhinweg said the automaker won't be able to achieve the number of sales it does with its passenger cars with the X-Class. Consequently, partnering with the Renault-Nissan Alliance was a necessity.

"In the LCV business it's a common approach to work with alliance partners, and a lot of companies are working together quite successfully In the LCV business it's a common approach to work with alliance partners, and a lot of companies are working together quite successfully.

"If we would like to be attractive from a price perspective, we have to work on things together. We cannot achieve, in our LCV segment, the huge amounts of numbers as the [Mercedes-Benz] passenger cars can," Mornhinweg said.

The X-Class will be built in both Argentina and Spain and specifically target customers in South Africa, Europe and Australia. According to Mornhinweg, the marque's goal of introducing the X-Class at short notice also gave it no choice but to team up with Nissan.

"We had a target of introducing the car [X-Class] at a short-term notice, and as it's a global product, we could not build-up one facility for this product.

"Therefore we discussed it with Nissan, if they [sic] are keen or have the willingness to work with us. They have a long tradition of doing pickups, and their base overall was useable for us, so we had it done," he said.

At launch, Mercedes will offered the X-Class with two four-cylinder engines. Initially, there will be the X 220 d with a 2.3-liter turbo-diesel delivering 163 PS and the X 250 d with a bi-turbo-diesel churning out 190 PS.


Link: http://www.carscoops.com/2017/07/mercedes-says-it-needed-nissan-to-help.html

Well, either way, it's sure to be in Jurassic World 2.  It'll probably be commandeered by raptors who are trying to kill a T-Rex.  I can see it now.  One raptor drives and another raptor stands up in the bed with an RPG while Andy from Parks & Rec tries to figure out whether or not he's supposed to have a moustache in this scene. 

Business decisions are not always entirely rational. For example, why is this tractor designed to look like something from Battlestar Galactica?



The design serves no purpose.

Well, that's probably going to be in Transformers 6: Mark Wahlberg Needs a New Summer Home.  It'll talk like an urban youth for no reason while Michael Bay looks around for the most ripped men to put in the tightest Under Armour he can find and peppers each shot with enough random hot chicks that people don't think he's compensating.

[93JC]

thats a thin rope to hang a vehicle on; good business isn't predicated on "I bought it because I already knew the salesman."

(And Mercedes Sprinters became really rare around here once the competitors started selling comparable vehicles)

Hear, hear. It seemed a few years ago every other new commercial van was a Sprinter, perhaps only because they stood out as 'different'. Ford, who were still dominating the van market up here with the Econoline, phased the Transit in and didn't miss a beat: they're mopping the floor with everyone else. Transit is the top-selling full-sized van by a large margin (6528 YTD vs. the Savana's 3295 and Sprinter's 2462), and Transit Connect is the top-selling small van (by a narrow 300ish unit margin over the Nissan NV200). And the Transit's sales in Canada are up >28% YTD.

Mercedes-Benz is still selling Sprinters at a pretty good clip but they're still well behind the GMC Savana for 2nd on the sales chart, and now they've got Ram ProMaster nipping at their heels only 62 units YTD behind. (And the ProMaster's sales are up almost 75% YTD...)

The Sprinter starts at $45,500 here; the new Metris, $33,900. The Transit starts at $31,900! Seems like a no-brainer to me...

[giant_mtb]

Business decisions are not always entirely rational. For example, why is this tractor designed to look like something from Battlestar Galactica?



The design serves no purpose.

On this note...holy shit have you seen pro-sumer power tools lately?  They all look like Transformers.

[Laconian]

Looks cheap, like a paintballing mask. Gross.

[giant_mtb]

They feel solid in the hand, but you feel all the creases and edges, and it begs "why?"  But like cars these days...all the creases and grips and edges somehow appeal to people. Sucks that looks sell.  You gotta spend thousands to get a decent over-molded tool that isn't a Transformer...SnapOn, etc.  There's a reason those in real industry call the SnapOn truck the "rape van."

[Tave]

I'm not seeing much Ridgeline, looks more Hilux-derivative, definitely not something that should command Mercedes-money, then again a Mercedes pickup is an oxymoron in the first place so maybe it doesn't matter how cheap it is. I suspect it will matter though.

[CaminoRacer]

They feel solid in the hand, but you feel all the creases and edges, and it begs "why?"  But like cars these days...all the creases and grips and edges somehow appeal to people. Sucks that looks sell.  You gotta spend thousands to get a decent over-molded tool that isn't a Transformer...SnapOn, etc.  There's a reason those in real industry call the SnapOn truck the "rape van."

Buying used Snap-on tools is the best route IMO. Quality + warranty for the same price as a new POS.

[cawimmer430]

Saw my first Mercedes-Benz X-Class today! 

[FoMoJo]

Disgraceful .

[cawimmer430]

Disgraceful .

What's really disgraceful is the interior. The concept cockpit looked pretty nice, upscale and PREMIUM.






The production model got this. Materials look decent but overall it comes across as so bland. Even though there are many similarities between the concept and production cockpits, the concept cockpit looks so much better.

[TBR]

Why has Nissan not updated the Frontier when they have updated the Navara?