Stuttgart - Mercedes-Benz has already created a stir in bakkie circles with news that it plans to launch its own double cab load hauler before the end of this decade, and now the premium carmaker has confirmed that Nissan will be heavily involved in the project.
While reiterating that this upcoming Mercedes-Benz pick-up will be engineered and designed in house in order to meet “specific needs of its customers”, the company has also revealed that the new product will “share some of the architecture” with the all-new Nissan NP300 Navara.
So while much of the basic componentry beneath the skin will have been engineered by Nissan, parent company Daimler has assured us that Bakkie Benz will still look and feel just like a Mercedes, incorporating the “distinctive characteristics and features” that customers would expect from the three-point star.
According to Mercedes-Benz, this addition to its already well-established partnership with the Renault-Nissan Alliance will help the company to enter the pick-up segment in a shorter time-frame and reduce costs.
Single cab derivatives look unlikely at this stage as Mercedes-Benz is only mentioning a double cab body style, although it will inevitably seek a good balance between comfort and toughness as the vehicle will target both personal-use and commercial buyers.
Although South Africa has been mentioned as one of the new bakkie's key markets, it will not be built here - that job will belong to the Nissan plant in Spain and Renault's facility in Argentina.