Mercedes-Benz Plans First Pickup as Luxury Pushes Limits - Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Mercedes-Benz plans to make its first pickup truck, extending a push by manufacturers of upscale vehicles to invade territories traditionally dominated by mass-market competitors. Mercedes will introduce a mid-size pickup by the end of the decade, focusing sales on Europe, Latin America, Australia and South Africa, the division of Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler AG said Friday. The project will attempt to succeed where previous upscale trucks like General Motors Co. ’s Cadillac Escalade EXT and Ford Motor Co. ’s Lincoln Blackwood failed. Mercedes, the world’s third-largest premium-car manufacturer, plans to overtake Volkswagen AG’s Audi marque and market leader BMW AG in sales by the end of the decade. The Mercedes pickup will be smaller than full-sized models that competitors offer in the U. S. , where the segment is dominated by Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford’s bestselling F-150 and the Chevrolet Silverado from Detroit-based GM. The German... Source: www.bloomberg.com