Mercedes-Benz teases its sleek pickup truck concept ahead of Swedish reveal

By Stephen Edelstein Updated October 24, 2016

Mercedes-Benz is just about ready to reveal a concept version of its first pickup truck, but what kind of machine will it be?

The German automaker posted a teaser video to YouTube on Friday, showing glimpses of the concept that will preview of the midsize pickup truck it announced last year. The concept will be unveiled October 25 in Stockholm, Sweden, and perhaps Mercedes will confirm a timeline for the production truck’s arrival then. It is unlikely that the production model will be sold in the United States.

The teaser video hints at a truck that’s a bit sleeker than the rendering Mercedes released last year. It will be interesting to see whether the truck is a utilitarian workhorse, like Mercedes’ Sprinter and Metris vans, or a luxury vehicle more in line with the company’s passenger cars and SUVs. Luxury trucks have never been particularly successful, so a more basic work vehicle might make more sense. While luxury cars usually spring to mind first, Mercedes has plenty of experience with commercial vehicles.

Read more: Australia’s new race series features RWD pickup trucks

Potentially carrying the X-Class or GLT name, the Mercedes pickup truck will definitely have working-class roots. It was co-developed with Nissan as part of the ongoing relationship between the Japanese automaker and Mercedes parent Daimler. It’s widely expected to use the same platform as the Nissan NP300 Navara and Renault Alaskan trucks.

Neither of those trucks are currently sold in the U.S., and it’s likely the Mercedes won’t be either. In addition to certifying its truck for U.S. sales, Mercedes would have to deal with the “Chicken Tax” levied on imported small and midsize pickup trucks. Still, given how well the U.S. midsize-truck segment is doing right now, anything is possible.

But will U.S. consumers even want a Mercedes pickup truck? We’ll find out tomorrow when the concept version is unveiled in Stockholm. Stay tuned.

Topics

Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

Cars

Audi ActiveSphere concept is part luxury sedan, part pickup truck

Audi ActiveSphere concept car in a mountainous setting with a bike on the rear rack.

Audi unveiled the fourth and final member of its Sphere-branded series of concept cars, and the design study is unlike anything we've seen before. Called ActiveSphere, it's an electric luxury sedan with a generous amount of ground clearance that can turn into a pickup truck.

Created at the Audi Design Studio in Malibu, California, the ActiveSphere stretches approximately 196 inches long, 81 inches wide, and 63 inches tall, figures that make it about as long as the current-generation A6, 7 inches wider, and 6 inches taller. It wears a rounded exterior design characterized by thin headlights, a transparent piece of trim where you'd expect to find a grille, and a fastback-like silhouette.

Cars

Mercedes EV charging hubs are coming to North America by the end of the decade

What a future Mercedes-Benz EV charging hub might look like.

You can't have more electric cars without more charging stations, so Mercedes-Benz is building a global charging network covering North America, China, Europe, and other major markets to support its goal of going all-electric by the end of the decade where market conditions allow.

Announced at CES 2023, the network should be in place by the end of the decade in line with Mercedes' electrification goal. It's a bold move by the automaker, which has mostly relied on third-party charging networks until now.

Cars

GMC poured all of its truck-making expertise into the Sierra EV pickup

A 2024 GMC Sierra EV towing an Airstream trailer.

The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks are twins, and that will continue to be the case when they go electric.
Chevy unveiled its Silverado EV at CES 2022, and now it’s GMC’s turn. The 2024 GMC Sierra EV borrows some key features from its Chevy sibling, as well GMC’s first electric truck — the Hummer EV. Some of those features were actually pioneered by General Motors two decades ago on non-electric trucks, and are now making a comeback.
You can reserve a Sierra EV now, but deliveries aren’t scheduled to start until early calendar-year 2024. Production starts with a high-end Denali Edition 1 model, with other versions arriving for the 2025 model year.

Design
The Sierra EV updates the design language of the internal-combustion GMC Sierra for the electric age. A big grille is no longer needed for cooling, but it’s still an important styling element that designers didn’t want to break away from, Sharon Gauci, GMC executive director of global design, explained to Digital Trends and other media in an online briefing ahead of the truck’s reveal. The grille shape is now outlined in lights, with an illuminated GMC logo.
Like the Hummer EV and Silverado EV, the Sierra EV uses GM’s Ultium modular battery architecture which, among other things, means the battery pack is an integral part of the structure. So unlike most other trucks — including the rival Ford F-150 Lightning — the Sierra EV doesn’t have a separate frame. The cab and bed are one piece as well, all of which helps increase structural rigidity.
The Sierra EV also borrows the Midgate setup from the Silverado EV. First seen on the Chevy Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade EXT in the early 2000s, it allows the bulkhead and glass behind the cab to be removed, effectively extending the bed. Combined with the fold-out MultiPro tailgate from the internal-combustion Sierra, it can expand the default 5.0-foot, 11-inch bed length to 10 feet, 10 inches. A frunk (GMC calls it the “eTrunk”) provides covered storage space as well.
Because it’s pitched as a premium vehicle, the Sierra EV gets upscale interior materials like open-pore wood trim and stainless steel speaker grilles for its Bose audio system. But the design itself, with a freestanding portrait touchscreen and rectangular instrument cluster, looks suspiciously similar to the Ford Mustang Mach-E cabin. The touchscreen even has the same big volume knob as the Ford. We hope GMC’s lawyers are ready.