Mercedes Says “Whenever” When Asked About Its Pickup Launch In The USA

In spite of entering a new, and lucrative, market, Mercedes still hasn’t decided when it will start selling its upcoming pickup truck in the United States.

Former Mercedes-Benz USA CEO, Steve Cannon, had said it would happen last year. This was subsequently pushed back to mid-2016 and now the new chief, Dietmar Exler, when asked about a definitive time frame by AutoNews, answered “Whenever“…

“I don’t think we do ourselves a favor to come up with a defined timetable. It’s more important that we get it right“, Exler commented.

AutoNation’s CEO, Mike Jackson, has advised the brand to not sell it in the US, because of the “challenge” of placing it against the “phenomenal” vehicles made by General Motors, Fiat Chrysler and Ford.

Mercedes-Benz has joined forces with the Renault-Nissan Alliance for the development of their pickup truck. It will use “some of the architecture” of the Navara NP300, as the automaker announced last year, but will adopt a new design that will set it apart from the Nissan.

The 2016 Paris Motor Show is expected to be “ground zero” for the X-Class/GLT (names unconfirmed), which will be previewed by a concept. The final production version should be introduced in 2017 and go on sale in Europe by the end of the year, with global markets to follow.

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