Are buyers of the Mercedes X-Class Pick-up SUCKERS? A VW boss seems to think so

VW Australia boss Michael Bartsch wonders if the new Mercedes X-Class is different enough from the Nissan Navara. Are buyers being suckers?

There are plenty of cars on the road which are pretty similar under the skin to competitors’ cars, as car makers turn to ‘partnerships’ to save costs and deliver more ‘choice’ by sharing development costs. Like the upcoming BMW Z4 and Toyota Supra.

And it’s not just cars where makers share underpinnings to deliver more models, with the next commercial vehicle partnership in the offing between Ford and VW to develop a new generation replacement for the VW Amarok and Ford Ranger as a joint venture.

In Australia, VW’s boss, Michael Bartsch, was being questioned about the future tie-up, reports Motoring, when the subject turned to the new X-Class, and in particular the new X 350d, which has just gone on sale in the UK at £42,000.

Bartsch commented that he thinks VW would have done a much better job of differentiating the X-Class from its Nissan Navara underpinnings than Mercedes has done, and was quite scathing about the project.

With the new X 350d costing $80k in Australia, Bartsch said time will tell if the makeover Mercedes has done, and the high price, works for buyers, and although he thinks the market, and buyers, are sophisticated enough to pay a premium for real premium products, they won’t want to be seen as ‘suckers’.

Bartsch isn’t the first industry boss to be scathing about the X-Class either, with a BMW boss calling it ‘appalling’, and saying if BMW do do a pick-up it would be a proper pick-up based on sophisticated architecture – like the X5.

Which does sound far more appealing than a titivated Navara (which is a very good pick-up) at daft prices.