Saying that the market is “primed” for a new mid-size pickup truck from a premium manufacturer, Daimler, maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and vans, said on Friday that it will expand its product line to include such a vehicle “before the end of the decade.” The main markets for the new trucks, according to the company, are Latin America, South Africa, Australia and Europe.
Source: Wikimedia Commons (The Car Spy)
In the United States, the mid-size pickup segment is represented by the Tacoma from Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM), the new Chevy Colorado from General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and the Nissan Frontier. GM’s GMC brand also offers a Canyon mid-size, and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) offers its Ridgeline. In February, all five models sold a total of 27,690 units, according to Kelley Blue Book, and essentially half that total were Tacoma sales.
What inquiring minds want to know is how much a Mercedes pickup could cost. Here is what the company had to say in its press release:
The midsize pickup segment is currently undergoing a transformation worldwide. More and more pickups are being used for private purposes, and commercial as well as private users are increasingly asking for vehicles that have car-like specifications.
While Mercedes may just have noticed that the mid-size pickup segment is undergoing a transformation, the full-size pickup began its transformation into a more car-like vehicle years ago. A 2015 Ford F-450 Platinum, four-door, four-wheel drive, V8 diesel engine and a few other items carries a base price of $69,825. Loaded, the truck costs more than $77,000.
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A base model similarly styled Chevy Colorado carries an MSRP of around $34,000. The Colorado does not have a diesel engine and its maximum towing power is far below the F-450’s. Still, loaded up with options the truck tops $40,000.
Mercedes must figure that it can charge something between those $40,000 and $80,000 for the new mid-size pickup and the company is most likely right. After all, the Mercedes is unlikely to be marketed as a work truck. As the saying goes, “All hat and no cattle.”
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