Marks The Spot

X-Class ute revealed, set for early 2018 local launch.

- Matt Raudnonikis

MERCEDES-BENZ has pulled the covers off its X-Class one-tonne ute, which will go on sale in Australia early in 2018. This will be Benz’s push in to one of the best performing new vehicle segments at present, and it will fill a niche it’s not currently occupying.

Before you start asking what a German company best known for its luxury cars is doing with a ute, the X-Class will sit in the company’s vans division. Remember that Benz make cars, trucks, buses, vans and SUVs.

The X-Class, a double-cab 4x4 ute, shares its platform with the Nissan D23 Navara, and it will initially be available with a choice of two 2.3-litre diesel engines taken from the Navara range. These will be backed by six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic transmissions and part-time 4x4.

Around the middle of the year, Benz will unload its key weapon with its own V6 diesel engine producing 550Nm and backed by a seven-speed auto and full-time, 4MATIC 4x4 with a low range transfer case.

The X-Class X350d will join the Volkswagen Amarok as the only V6 diesel in a class where four- and five-cylinder engines are the norm, but it will trump the 165kW Amarok with its impressive 190kW.