Mercedes-Benz to produce first pick-up truck by 2020

Mercedes-Benz will release its first pick-up truck by 2020, as part of the partnership between Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

The one-ton truck will be built by Nissan and follows the pick-up currently being developed for Renault which is set to go into production in 2016.

Both cars will share some architecture with the Nissan NP300 Navara, which was launched in 2014, but will be engineered and designed by Daimler and Renault separately to keep their brand identity intact.

All three versions will be built at Nissan's plant in Barcelona, Spain, as well as at the Renault plant in Argentina.

Around 120,000 cars will be produced per year for the three manufacturers in Barcelona, and 70,000 are expected to be produced at the Cordoba plant in Argentina.

Mercedes believes the mid-size pick-up segment is an important market to enter and the double-cab truck will be the company's first foray into the class. It will target markets in Europe, Australia, South Africa and Latin America, but not North America.

The alliance between the companies will help to split the cost of investment and optimise production capacity at the plant. It will also enable Renault-Nissan to target new markets in Latin America.

The partnership between Daimler and Renault-Nissan began in April 2010 and celebrates its fifth anniversary this month. The combined portfolio shared between the manufacturers stands at 13 projects in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

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