2016+ Nissan Navara | Mercedes X-Class | Renault Alaskan

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This is different. This is MB actually saying they want to cash in on Australian consumers love for the 4-door Ute, by offering one with the three-pointed star.

The markets they are targeting, will buy it. Again, Australia sell the most AMG vehicles per capita. Why wouldn't a well off person or even a small company, pony up and get one?
Because the Ute market is not really the same thing as the AMG Market.

It might work it might not, but we haven't had a luxury ute before.
 
Because the Ute market is not really the same thing as the AMG Market.

It might work it might not, but we haven't had a luxury ute before.
But this Ute won't be bare bones is what I'm getting at. Top of the line is what the market here apparently buy.

I don't know if it will have all the MB safety and cruise control gizmos, but that interior is going to sell. Especially if it can be customized. I'm sure they'll get the ride and handling done right as well.

If it flops, it flops. If it sells, it sells. With the Navara, Renault and the X, it's like the Caravan, Voyager and Town & Country all over again.
 
The next gen. Frontier won't be a rebadged Navara
“The Frontier has a future. Trucks are in our DNA, we’ve been doing them for a long time,” said Christian Meunier, senior vice president at Nissan North America during a roundtable discussion at the New York Auto Show. “We’ll do something better than the Navara,” he said, adding that the Navara is a bit more of a lifestyle vehicle, “like a Honda Ridgeline.”

“We like real trucks,” he added.
AutoGuide.com
 
http://www.carscoops.com/2017/07/mercedes-x-class-unveiled-looks-to.html

Mercedes-X-Class-9.jpg


Mercedes-X-Class-3.jpg


Mercedes-X-Class-8.jpg
 
Nice looking thing on the outside but they really haven't been able to hide the fact that it's a Nissan with the interior, the way the Merc fittings have been crudely bolted into the dash mixed with buttons and switchgear which clearly aren't their own is kind of disappointing. Despite the mark up the badge will make it a big hit with those wanting a luxury pickup. In the UK the people that do have pickups want something upmarket, not so much for real utility, so it will probably do well here.
 
The X-Class is really a stupid truck and I'm not sure what market they are going after. I mean I guess people who think they need a truck because they go buy some mulch once a year for the garden will buy it, but past that I can't see it being super popular. I like how they said it was going to be for farmers and contractors. No farmer or contractor is going to want to drop over 40 grand on a base truck that can only carry a ton.

I'm also a little confused why the claim it is the first truck from a premium manufacturer. Lincoln and Cadillac both had trucks years before.

Oh and the first truck with live traffic information is kind of a joke, my Tacoma does live traffic.
 
Lincoln and Cadillac only made garbage when they had one though.

It will be Popular here as the tradesman who this will be targeted at make loads here, but in America where you can get Massive fullsize Trucks for dirt it isn't going to be appealing.
 
While the Lincoln Blackwood was weird, it wasn't awful. The Mark LT though was essentially an F-150 that was nicer to sit in, so I'm not sure how that's garbage at all. The Cadillac EXT wasn't the best either, but it was still a truck from a premium brand.

I still can't see it being something anyone in a trade will want, especially when a HiLux or Ranger is much cheaper and actually capable of running forever.
 
I still can't see it being something anyone in a trade will want, especially when a HiLux or Ranger is much cheaper and actually capable of running forever.
In the UK there's a lot of tradespeople who will run a truck as a work car and a family car. They get it as a work car because they can claim the VAT back on it, and then because it's got a family car cabin they'll use it to take the kids to school or as a weekend runaround. That's why just about every truck on the UK market is a double-cab and sold through the company's commercial vehicle outlets.

This is basically there to get those people out of Volkswagen Amaroks.
 
I'm also a little confused why the claim it is the first truck from a premium manufacturer. Lincoln and Cadillac both had trucks years before
Land Rover made pick up trucks since mid. '40s and even Ford made Mercury version of the F-Series called M-Series since the mid '40s.
 
Why do Americans think you need something that is 3 tonnes to do anything with a pickup?

It can Tow 3.5 tonnes and can carry over a Tonne in the bed which given it's a dual cab isn't that big to fit things that will be over that tonne so whats the problem?

and it does all that without having leaf springs which break your back going over any kind of speed bump if it's empty, sure the Navara does the same but there is a point to it.
 
Why do Americans think you need something that is 3 tonnes to do anything with a pickup?
Because, it's just "to have". In some North American cities, there is still enough room for a big ute. Let alone living in a country suburb.
Driving the "small" Ute's here in Australia, a big(ger) ute is serious overkill.
 
Pickup trucks in America are usually just in rural America. Everywhere you look in Kentucky, you'll probably see a couple from each brand. But in LA, I didn't see a single one. From what I've seen, those pickup trucks are usually empty and very clean. They just have one for the sake of having a pickup. American pride I guess.
 
Why do Americans think you need something that is 3 tonnes to do anything with a pickup?

It can Tow 3.5 tonnes and can carry over a Tonne in the bed which given it's a dual cab isn't that big to fit things that will be over that tonne so whats the problem?
Because towing and payload capacities of European market vehicles are irrelevant to the towing and payload capacities of American market vehicles.
 
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Why do Americans think you need something that is 3 tonnes to do anything with a pickup?.

They don't. The F-150 is the best sell vehicle here and it only weighs about 4,700lbs. To get to three tons you need to get something like an F-350 which is fare less common because they are obscenely expensive. Mid-sized trucks are also pretty common, it's why Chevy keeps selling the Colorado and why it's next to impossible to get a Tacoma for a reasonable price. Also Ford will be bringing the Ranger back next year.

Pickup trucks in America are usually just in rural America. Everywhere you look in Kentucky, you'll probably see a couple from each brand. But in LA, I didn't see a single one. From what I've seen, those pickup trucks are usually empty and very clean. They just have one for the sake of having a pickup. American pride I guess.

They aren't just for rule America. I live in Salt Lake City, which while not anywhere close to LA still has a massive amount of pickup trucks. When I lived in Detroit it was the same thing.

Pickups are just common vehicles in the US because they can be relatively inexpensive and since new ones are very car like they can be a practical family vehicle. While I don't have a family or really haul stuff all that often, having a pickup is fantastic. I can carry pretty anything I'd ever need to and I can even sleep in the bed of the truck when I got out in the woods.
 
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