X-class overview from Esquire UK

[balthazar]

And it's obviously Esquire UK, as the references are painfully geographical. Likewise is the claim "The X-Class is also the only pick-up around that hits the “luxury” mark." Pity the Brits- bet they're continually whining about 'why do others always get the good stuff?' when looking at USDM trucks.

https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a23640970/will-mercedes-benz-new-pick-up-make-you-the-man-you-were-always-supposed-to-be/

There is zero question in my mind that this turd will be coming to the US; Daimler canNOT resist a carrot nub on a string even if it meant a lifetime of carrots next week.

Edited October 9, 2018 by balthazar

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, balthazar said:

And it's obviously Esquire UK, as the references are painfully geographical. Likewise is the claim "The X-Class is also the only pick-up around that hits the “luxury” mark." Pity the Brits- bet they're continually whining about 'why do others always get the good stuff?' when looking at USDM trucks.

https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a23640970/will-mercedes-benz-new-pick-up-make-you-the-man-you-were-always-supposed-to-be/

There is zero question in my mind that this turd will be coming to the US; Daimler canNOT resist a carrot nub on a string if it meant a lifetime of carrots next week.

WOW, What a Plastic Puke box of garbage. That coming here will only be bought by badge snobs that do not understand a real truck or the quality of a truck they have here but the stupid 3 point badge on the grill and all the cheap ass black plastic interior. The dash is pathetic. This is anything but Luxury, Cheap ass Chinese garbage if I did not know who supplied the truck.

Pathetic.

[ccap41]

I don't see anything wrong with it other than the price. 

[G. David Felt]

21 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I don't see anything wrong with it other than the price. 

You see nothing wrong with the Fisher price black plastic garbage interior and cheap ass add in screen glued to the dash. If MB is trying to say yes we can rebadge a cheap truck and charge stupid crazy prices, then they succeeded.

[ccap41]

3 minutes ago, dfelt said:

You see nothing wrong with the Fisher price black plastic garbage interior and cheap ass add in screen glued to the dash. If MB is trying to say yes we can rebadge a cheap truck and charge stupid crazy prices, then they succeeded.

Have you seen the interior of a Colorado, Canyon, Tacoma, or Frontier? 

If you think this looks cheap I cannot imagine how bad you think the Colorado's interior looks in comparison. 

[G. David Felt]

5 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Have you seen the interior of a Colorado, Canyon, Tacoma, or Frontier? 

If you think this looks cheap I cannot imagine how bad you think the Colorado's interior looks in comparison. 

I agree it is not much better but then they are not charging a luxury price or presenting a luxury persona as MB is.

[G. David Felt]

15 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Have you seen the interior of a Colorado, Canyon, Tacoma, or Frontier? 

If you think this looks cheap I cannot imagine how bad you think the Colorado's interior looks in comparison. 

It is much more minimalist than it's sister Nissan truck. Then Nissan if you get the Luxury package looks better than MB.

[ykX]

I have to agree with @dfelt, nothing about X-class interior says it is a luxury truck.

[ccap41]

Oh I don't think it looks genuinely luxurious and I insinuated it was too pricey for what you're getting but I don't think anything about the interior looks worse than what's currently out there.

[Robert Hall]

48 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Have you seen the interior of a Colorado, Canyon, Tacoma, or Frontier? 

If you think this looks cheap I cannot imagine how bad you think the Colorado's interior looks in comparison. 

 

Those are just cheap trucks, though..you expect the interiors in them to be hard gray plastics and despair.  An M-B should be above that..

 

[ykX]

7 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Oh I don't think it looks genuinely luxurious and I insinuated it was too pricey for what you're getting but I don't think anything about the interior looks worse than what's currently out there.

I think it all depends how much you pay and what you expect for the money,  When you buy a MB I don't believe you expect to get an interior at the same level as Chevy.

[ccap41]

I also don't think it is at the level of a Chevy.

[G. David Felt]

13 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I also don't think it is at the level of a Chevy.

Nope below it IMHO, I think the Chevy even the Nissan luxury interior is better.

19 minutes ago, ykX said:

I think it all depends how much you pay and what you expect for the money,  When you buy a MB I don't believe you expect to get an interior at the same level as Chevy.

That is the problem. MB has built up a reputation for Luxury with the tag line the best or nothing at all. The US expects them to be that and yet they are going vans and low end auto's that compete with Chevy and Toyota and that is affecting their image as people expect them to be uber luxury and something special and they are no longer that.

[ykX]

9 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Nope below it IMHO, I think the Chevy even the Nissan luxury interior is better.

That is the problem. MB has built up a reputation for Luxury with the tag line the best or nothing at all. The US expects them to be that and yet they are going vans and low end auto's that compete with Chevy and Toyota and that is affecting their image as people expect them to be uber luxury and something special and they are no longer that.

In Europe the level of car's luxury is lower I believe in general.  So A-class MB is not expected to be at the same level as we expect here.  In regards to vans, we just visited Italy this year and took a transfer from the airport to another town, the van was MB and it definitely felt more luxurious than any other van I have been in.

[ccap41]

16 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Nope below it IMHO, I think the Chevy even the Nissan luxury interior is better.

You also don't like anything German made so this isn't surprising. 

[G. David Felt]

9 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

You also don't like anything German made so this isn't surprising. 

Not true, there is plenty of German made stuff I like including auto's. Yet as I stated, this is below what the public here is going to expect unless they are a badge snob.

[balthazar]

"It's a tarted up Nissan."

[ccap41]

Neat info on the similarities and differences.

And

https://www.automobilemag.com/news/nissan-navara-pickup-redesigned-frontier-to-be-different/

[Robert Hall]

15 hours ago, balthazar said:

And it's obviously Esquire UK, as the references are painfully geographical. Likewise is the claim "The X-Class is also the only pick-up around that hits the “luxury” mark." Pity the Brits- bet they're continually whining about 'why do others always get the good stuff?' when looking at USDM trucks.
 

Given the cost of petrol in the UK and parking space limitations, I can't imagine many Brits would be interested in the 3 ton bloat beast trucks the US has.

[balthazar]

People said the same thing about tiny, tinny miserly Euro cars when gas was 33-cents here. Then they became increasingly available and buyers found appeal in them. 

If Rollers, Bentleys, A8s and 5000lb s-classes can find buyers, just think what an imminently more capable, comparatively luxurious and far more exclusive F-150 Platinum could do over there.

[Cmicasa the Great]

I said it once and I'll say it again.. outside of the S-Class, GL-Class, AMG, SL, and upper EClass models.. Mercedes  interiors are no better than my Impala LTZ's interior. I mean it too. There is NOTHING inside that suggests that "this car costs $20K more than a mainstream vehicle." Its why I always find myself perplexed.. confused.. when comparisons are made between say a CTS and an E-Class.. and the reviewer, usually from Motor Trend, says the Benz interior is better. I'm like are we looking at or sitting in the the same car. In terms of this I've been in the High Country, Denali, Limited, and Big Horn.. and This is in no way looks to be on their level in terms of LUXURY

[frogger]

I don't see full size pickup trucks selling much in Europe, they are just too wide, probably a foot wider than full size luxury cars due to the side view mirrors.  Have fun with that.  The Ranger Raptor should do decently there though.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2018 by frogger

[G. David Felt]

8 minutes ago, frogger said:

I don't see full size pickup trucks selling much in Europe, they are just too wide, probably a foot wider than full size luxury cars due to the side view mirrors.  Have fun with that.  The Ranger Raptor should do decently there though.

Thinking on this, you have hit an important point, Most of Europe is all about keeping their history roads, buildings, etc all as is and not change with modern roads / buildings. As such American Full size trucks will not work for most of Europe. I would say the mini trucks of past and the mid size trucks of today should do well.

Bet if GM offered the ZR2 Bison they could sell there.

[ykX]

13 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Thinking on this, you have hit an important point, Most of Europe is all about keeping their history roads, buildings, etc all as is and not change with modern roads / buildings. As such American Full size trucks will not work for most of Europe. I would say the mini trucks of past and the mid size trucks of today should do well.

Bet if GM offered the ZR2 Bison they could sell there.

That reminds when Clarkson on Top Gear tested F-150 Lightning in a small English town.

[G. David Felt]

13 minutes ago, ykX said:

That reminds when Clarkson on Top Gear tested F-150 Lightning in a small English town.

https://www.dailymotion.com/6bf8e0e4-c9ef-4f9b-82a5-efe8dab194fa 

You talking about this video?

 Americans do whatever Americans do, Incest! 

What a douche bag, no wonder they lost their empire. Clearly not interested in living life.

[ccap41]

Clarkson is the man and doesn't give a crap about offending people. 

[G. David Felt]

1 minute ago, ccap41 said:

Clarkson is the man and doesn't give a crap about offending people. 

Amazing he talks about quality fit n finish and the crap that has been built by Jaguar, Land rover, etc. is just pathetic.

Have to say, I did get a great laugh out of watching it.

[Cmicasa the Great]

22 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Amazing he talks about quality fit n finish and the crap that has been built by Jaguar, Land rover, etc. is just pathetic.

Have to say, I did get a great laugh out of watching it.

Its hypocrisy at its finest. I have yet to meet a Land Rover that didn't have an engine or tranny issue within the first 20K... I haven yet to meet a Jag that did not at some point have the dashboard light up like it was Christmas Eve

[ykX]

46 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Amazing he talks about quality fit n finish and the crap that has been built by Jaguar, Land rover, etc. is just pathetic.

Have to say, I did get a great laugh out of watching it.

They make plenty of fun about Jaguar's and Land Rover's build quality. 

Just last season on Amazon's Grand Tour they did old Jags challenge and had plenty of laughs about their build quality.

They don't discriminate who they make fun of.   That's why they are so great.

Clarkson loved plenty of American cars too, owned Ford GT.

[ccap41]

10 minutes ago, ykX said:

They don't discriminate who they make fun of.   That's why they are so great.

ABSOLUTELY 

[balthazar]

A mercedes GLS is 84" wide including mirrors, 76" at the body. A F/S truck has a 4-in wider body, and all truck mirrors fold in. Does Daimler sell the GLS in Europe? Not everyone in Europe lives in a tiny 2000-yr old ox-cart town.

Saying a F/S truck is impractical due to X-dimension is like saying no one will buy a Lamborghini in the US because it has no trunk and no headroom.

Edited October 10, 2018 by balthazar

[Robert Hall]

Pickups in Europe seem to be mostly a commercial (work) use thing, like the Sprinter trucks or Fiat ones.  You see some civilian diesel 4x4s running around like the international Ranger, Mitsibishi Triton, Nissan Navara, Toyota Hilux, but still pretty uncommon in the countries I've been in..they don't have the mainstream pickup culture the US has.   I did see a few oddballs here in there, like the 80s Ford F150 parked in a village square in a small Italian town. 

Then you have unusual places w/ specific use cases like in Iceland..lots of big, lifted American pickups there w/ huge tires.  

Edited October 10, 2018 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[balthazar]

There's no 'mainstream exotic car culture' in the US either, but I see Maseratis weekly. I'm not saying Ford would need to sell 900K F-Series a year there, they could be exclusive luxury play things, like a Lambo. Rare, expensive, luxurious. Same segment as a Lambo, just with a tailgate. :D

[ccap41]

11 hours ago, balthazar said:

There's no 'mainstream exotic car culture' in the US either, but I see Maseratis weekly. I'm not saying Ford would need to sell 900K F-Series a year there, they could be exclusive luxury play things, like a Lambo. Rare, expensive, luxurious. Same segment as a Lambo, just with a tailgate. :D

That's an interesting take on trucks in the EU. I completely see your point, too. 

Wouldn't a 70k Platinum F150 here be roughly 100k there? 

[balthazar]

^ "Luxury!!" and conspicuous consumption. The beautiful people, in imported, high-capability luxury trucks, loaded with tech and features. Head-turners & trend-setters. The latest Thing.

[Drew Dowdell]

Ford is already selling all the F-150s in the US they can build. Maybe GM, with their falling truck sales numbers, should give it a go in the UK.... oh, no wait... they mostly pulled out of Europe except for Corvette and Cadillac. 

 

 

[balthazar]

Was the Silverado ever exported into Europe tho?

[Drew Dowdell]

1 minute ago, balthazar said:

Was the Silverado ever exported into Europe tho?

Not by GM. I think some 3d party did. 

[balthazar]

Would be interesting to see a push of the LTZ/High Country trims as a specific luxury model by Corporate over there.
3rd party sellers may have hedged their bets and presented them as lower trim / work vehicles.

[Drew Dowdell]

13 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Would be interesting to see a push of the LTZ/High Country trims as a specific luxury model by Corporate over there.
3rd party sellers may have hedged their bets and presented them as lower trim / work vehicles.

Selling High Country in the Old Country. 

[smk4565]

Full size truck is too big for Europe, they are becoming too big for the USA.  Canyon or Colorado could work in Europe, assuming they had the dealer network, but they don’t.  FCA could sell a Wrangler pick up there I bet.

As far as the X-class, I think that is putting their toe in the water.  If it does well they can do a mid cycle refresh and give it a new interior and make it ready for the US market.  The Mercedes turbo 4 has as much torque as the V6 Colorado or Tacoma and the in-line six blows away any mid-size truck on sale here. 

Americans love pick ups and the money spent on them is pretty high, it is a tempting play for Mercedes to go into that market.  Daimler has a lot of truck parts in the empire to pull from if needed and I imagine an X-class with the G-wagon’s suspension, locking diffs and 4-wheel drive would make an awesome off roader.

[G. David Felt]

Big Trucks = Getting ready for the Zombie Apocalypse! 

[Drew Dowdell]

13 hours ago, smk4565 said:

Full size truck is too big for Europe, they are becoming too big for the USA.  Canyon or Colorado could work in Europe, assuming they had the dealer network, but they don’t.  FCA could sell a Wrangler pick up there I bet.

As far as the X-class, I think that is putting their toe in the water.  If it does well they can do a mid cycle refresh and give it a new interior and make it ready for the US market.  The Mercedes turbo 4 has as much torque as the V6 Colorado or Tacoma and the in-line six blows away any mid-size truck on sale here. 

Americans love pick ups and the money spent on them is pretty high, it is a tempting play for Mercedes to go into that market.  Daimler has a lot of truck parts in the empire to pull from if needed and I imagine an X-class with the G-wagon’s suspension, locking diffs and 4-wheel drive would make an awesome off roader.

But the X-Class is none of that. It’s a rebadged Nissan Frontier.  A new Frontier isn’t all that far away and the X-Class will likely be another rebadge of that.

For Mercedes to do what you said, they’d have to copy Cadillac and make a G-Class EXT. 

[balthazar]

13 hours ago, smk4565 said:

..it is a tempting play for Mercedes to go into that market.

No doubt; but as a mainstream, high volume, mass market brand, MB is DECADES late to the segment and has forfeited billions in profits to the competition. Now, when the segment is at it's peak & competition is fierce, they come in with a downmarket, corner-cutting rebadge, showing they still have no idea about how & why Americans are spending on trucks.

[Drew Dowdell]

6 hours ago, balthazar said:

No doubt; but as a mainstream, high volume, mass market brand, MB is DECADES late to the segment and has forfeited billions in profits to the competition. Now, when the segment is at it's peak & competition is fierce, they come in with a downmarket, corner-cutting rebadge, showing they still have no idea about how & why Americans are spending on trucks.

“Peak truck market” is probably right.  The next recession is going to hit this country hard because one of the things a falling dollar will do is drive oil prices up.  A lot of people fresh into their 4 or 5 year lease will suddenly have a truck that they can't afford to fuel and can’t get out of the lease because no one else wants it. 

Trucks may be more efficient than ever, but they’re still not going to beat a 45mpg Camry Hybrid on an endurance race between fuel pumps. 

The current model of purchasing vehicles (84 month financing, relatively fuel inefficient vehicles, buying way more than can be afforded) is simply not sustainable.  Eventually the credit will run out, the recession will hit, and it will all come crashing down again.

We didn’t learn our lesson from 10 years ago.

[balthazar]

By 'peak' I meant it's at it's peak, not that a segment reverse course is imminent.

[Drew Dowdell]

I think we're still a few years from the true peak, but just as wagons and minivans had their peak and subsequent decline, I think it's only a matter of time for full-size trucks as the primary family hauler to reverse course.

[smk4565]

5 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

But the X-Class is none of that. It’s a rebadged Nissan Frontier.  A new Frontier isn’t all that far away and the X-Class will likely be another rebadge of that.

For Mercedes to do what you said, they’d have to copy Cadillac and make a G-Class EXT. 

Technically it is a re-badged Nissan Navara, which is a new truck.  The Frontier we have in the USA is the 2004-2014 Navara.   And the X-class was never designed for the US market, it was made for Europe, Africa and Australia.  If they wanted to do an American version, I imagine there would be interior upgrades, more sound deadening, different engines, and suspension changes.  And you wouldn't need a G-class platform for any of that, but they could pull suspension and differential bits from it to put on the X-class.

5 hours ago, balthazar said:

No doubt; but as a mainstream, high volume, mass market brand, MB is DECADES late to the segment and has forfeited billions in profits to the competition. Now, when the segment is at it's peak & competition is fierce, they come in with a downmarket, corner-cutting rebadge, showing they still have no idea about how & why Americans are spending on trucks.

From a CNBC article a few days ago: 

Mercedes-Benz, a luxury car company founded in 1926, makes an average $339 profit every second.

This amounts to an average $20,310 every minute, $1,218,656 every hour and $29,247,743 every 24 hours, according to Staveley Head, a U.K.-based car insurance provider.

 

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I think we're still a few years from the true peak, but just as wagons and minivans had their peak and subsequent decline, I think it's only a matter of time for full-size trucks as the primary family hauler to reverse course.

One really good fuel scare or if nothing else society is becoming more urban all of the time.

5 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

“Peak truck market” is probably right.  The next recession is going to hit this country hard because one of the things a falling dollar will do is drive oil prices up.  A lot of people fresh into their 4 or 5 year lease will suddenly have a truck that they can afford to fuel and can’t get out of the lease because no one else wants it. 

Trucks may be more efficient than ever, but they’re still not going to beat a 45mpg Camry Hybrid on an endurance race between fuel pumps. 

The current model of purchasing vehicles (84 month financing, relatively fuel inefficient vehicles, buying way more than can be afforded) is simply not sustainable.  Eventually the credit will run out, the recession will hit, and it will all come crashing down again.

We didn’t learn our lesson from 10 years ago.

And that will hit the F series especially hard.

On 10/10/2018 at 2:13 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

Ford is already selling all the F-150s in the US they can build. Maybe GM, with their falling truck sales numbers, should give it a go in the UK.... oh, no wait... they mostly pulled out of Europe except for Corvette and Cadillac. 

 

 

And I will give Ford credit here. They got the F series really really right.

[A Horse With No Name]

On 10/8/2018 at 11:44 PM, dfelt said:

WOW, What a Plastic Puke box of garbage. That coming here will only be bought by badge snobs that do not understand a real truck or the quality of a truck they have here but the stupid 3 point badge on the grill and all the cheap ass black plastic interior. The dash is pathetic. This is anything but Luxury, Cheap ass Chinese garbage if I did not know who supplied the truck.

Pathetic.

You sound just as irrational as I do or Ocnblu does when you rant...I love being on a board with people who are passionate and not afraid of being partisan.

On 10/9/2018 at 10:22 AM, ccap41 said:

Have you seen the interior of a Colorado, Canyon, Tacoma, or Frontier? 

If you think this looks cheap I cannot imagine how bad you think the Colorado's interior looks in comparison. 

I actually really like the Benz interior.

On 10/9/2018 at 11:04 AM, ccap41 said:

Oh I don't think it looks genuinely luxurious and I insinuated it was too pricey for what you're getting but I don't think anything about the interior looks worse than what's currently out there.

And in this we agree completely.