With a new-bakkie market of roughly 110 000 units a year, Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) would like to secure its “fair share” of this lucrative, “but highly competitive”, segment with the launch of the new X-Class onto the local market in the first half of next year, says Mercedes-Benz Vans Southern Africa VP Nadia Trimmel.

Trimmel and her team will be responsible for X-Class sales in South Africa. The X-Class was developed in the Mercedes-Benz group’s Vans division at the Daimler parent company, in Germany.

Trimmel says she is not able to share a sales forecast for the newcomer to the local market. She can also not elaborate on local pricing.

All that is known is that European pricing will start from €37 294 when the pick-up makes its debut in this region in November.

The South African debut will follow early in 2018, as the country shares the Spanish Nissan source plant with the European market. Australia and New Zealand will also receive their new X-Class models in 2018, with Brazil and Argentina to follow in 2019. The Latin American markets are to be supplied from the Renault plant in Cordoba, Argentina.

The X-Class shares a platform with the Nissan Navara and Renault Alaskan pick-ups.

The X-Class will not be produced in South Africa. MBSA will, however, make the vehicle available to Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana, as well as, eventually, some other Southern African markets.

Russia is also a key market for the X-Class.

Daimler Vans head Volker Morhinweg says the introduction of the X-Class will see Mercedes-Benz “closing a gap in its portfolio between passenger cars and commercial vehicles”.

He says an evolution in the pick-up segment is seeing the increased private use of a vehicle that has traditionally been a business instrument. This trend has seen pick-ups become more passengerlike.

“The world’s first premium pick-up will expand the segment.”

The proof of Morhinweg’s statement is in the pudding. Sales of pick-ups in Australia make up 16% of total new-vehicle sales in this market, and 22% in South Africa – that is more than one in five vehicles.

The forecast is for the global midsize pick-up segment to grow by 43% by 2026, from 2.2-million vehicles to 3.2-million vehicles.

“The segment for midsize pick-ups is ripe for a premium vehicle,” notes Daimler chairperson Dr Dieter Zetsche.

“With the X-Class, we will open up this segment to new customer groups, just as we redefined the off-road segment with the M-Class more than 20 years ago. Our pick-up convinces as a workhorse, yet also as a family and lifestyle vehicle. In short, the X-Class is the Mercedes among pick-ups.”

The Numbers
Daimler says it used its experience in building offroad vehicles such as the G-Class and the Unimog to deliver the X-Class.

The vehicle’s “comfort suspension” consists of a ladder-type frame, a rear multilink solid axle, front independent wheel suspension and coil springs on both axles.

The X-Class will be available in three model variants.

The Pure basic variant is ideal for rugged, functional use, says Daimler.

“It fulfils all the demands placed on a workhorse. At the same time, its comfort and design make it perfect for visiting customers or suppliers and for private activities.”

The X-Class Progressive is aimed at people seeking a rugged pick-up with extra styling and comfort, using “the vehicle as a calling card for their own business, while also being a comfortable, yet prestigious vehicle for private use”.

The Power version targets customers for whom styling, performance and comfort are paramount. The Power is a lifestyle vehicle, suitable for urban environments, as well as for sports and leisure activities off the beaten track.

The X-Class can haul a payload of up to 1.1 t, and tow a load of up to 3.5 t.

The vehicle has a 3 150 mm wheelbase. Vehicle length is 5 340 mm.

Ground clearance in South Africa will be 222 mm.

Fording depth is 600 mm.

The load bed is designed in such a way that a Euro-pallet can be loaded straight between the wheel arches. Lighting in the cargo area is standard.

A 12 V socket to power additional equipment, such as compressors, for example, is also part of the standard equipment in the load bed.

An in-house team of designers and developers created a number of accessories for the X-Class. For example, there is a choice of styling bar, sidebar, soft tonneau cover, hard tonneau cover and roll cover, as well as a canopy, which makes the pick-up look like a sports utility vehicle. Other items available include a bed liner, a bed divider system, load-securing rails in the floor, and a technical underguard.

Under the hood, there is a high-torque common-rail diesel drive system with a displacement of 2.3 ℓ, available with a choice of two power outputs.

In the X220d with single turbocharger, it generates 120 kW, and in the biturbo X250d model, 140 kW.

Both diesel models are available as left- or right-hand-drive vehicles, with purely rear-wheel drive, or with engageable all-wheel drive.

to market requirements, for example in Dubai and Morocco, the 122 kW X200 petrol model will only be available as a left-hand-drive vehicle with rear-wheel drive.

Power is transferred through a six-speed manual transmission.

A seven-speed automatic transmission is available on request for the 140 kW X250d and X250d4MATIC models.

The X350d will feature a high-torque V6 diesel engine, generating 190 kW, and a maximum torque of 550 Nm.

This top X-Class model will come as standard with permanent 4MATIC all-wheel drive and the seven-speed automatic transmission.
The X-Class will also feature a drive programme switch that enables the driving experience to be tailored to individual preferences. There are five drive programmes to choose from, namely comfort, eco, sport, manual and offroad.

Connected Bakkie
Inside, passive safety is provided, thanks to standard equipment such as seven airbags and an i-Size attachment system for two child seats.

For active safety, three driver assistance systems are available, namely Active Brake Assist, Lane Keeping Assist and Traffic Sign Assist.

Additionally, there are Trailer Stability Assist, a tyre pressure monitoring system, an emergency call system, cruise control and LED headlamps that deliver the brightest light output in the segment, says Daimler.

If required, a 360º camera is available, in addition to a reversing camera.

Other comfort systems include a multifunction touchpad and a ComandOnline multimedia system with hard-disk navigation, Linguatronic voice control and Internet access via smartphone.

SA Is Bakkie Country
The most popular vehicle on sale in South Africa last year was the Toyota Hilux, at 35 428 units.

In fact, the one-ton bakkie has achieved sales leadership in South Africa for 44 years out of the past 47 years, notes Toyota.

However, Ford’s Ranger has piled on the pressure, managing to outsell the Hilux for the first six months of 2017, at 17 014 units, compared with the Hilux’s 16 827 units.

Both pick-ups are produced in South Africa.