2018 Mercedes-Benz X-Class pricing revealed

The Mercedes-Benz X-Class will launch in Australia carrying about a $15,000 premium over more workmanlike trade utes such as the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux, the German luxury car maker has announced.

The initial 13-strong, all diesel range will launch in April next year, featuring a 2.3-litre four-cylinder engine, a 1.1-tonne load capacity and a 3.5-tonne towing capacity. The entry-level, six-speed-only rear-drive X220d cab chassis version will go on sale priced from $45,450. If you want Mercedes-Benz to supply a style-side tray for the Nissan Navara-based German, the cheapest version is priced from $46,400 for the rear-drive six-speed manual version, with optional 4Matic all-wheel-drive, which you’ll need to engage, adding $4000 to the cost. A V6 version arrives later in the year.

The X220d “Pure” range aimed at “classic robust use” will use a 120kW/403Nm tune that outperforms both the entry level Ford Ranger’s 110kW/375Nm 2.2-litre engine and the Toyota Hilux’s 110kW/400Nm 2.4-litre unit. However, the all all-wheel-drive X250 range will use an uncorked version of the 2.3-litre four-pot that produces 140kW/450Nm – that outperforms Toyota’s base 2.8-litre’s 130kW/420Nm (but not the 130kW/450Nm tune used for the range-topping SR), but falls short of the 3.2-litre five-cylinder Ranger’s 147kW/470Nm.

The cheapest X250d Pure, equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox and missing a tray on the back, will be priced from $51,450, with a seven-speed automatic transmission adding $2900 to the price. Order your upper spec X-Class with a tray on the back, and it adds $950 to the cost.

It’s equipped like an entry-level trade ute, sitting on 17-inch steel wheels and with cheap black front and rear bumpers that help to cut down on the cost of running repairs. Buy it with the benz-sourced tub and you get a reversing camera, sit on black cloth seats, the floor is trimmed in plastic, and the audio system has only two speakers. But it gets a seven-inch touchscreen, halogen headlights, a tyre pressure monitor, airconditioning and a lane-keeping assistant as standard.

The X250d Progressive, priced from $53,950 for a cab chassis, meets what Mercedes-Benz says are “higher requirements in terms of quality feel and comfort”. The 17-inch wheels swap to alloy, the bumpers become body-coloured, and the windscreen adds heat insulation. The seats remain black cloth and manually adjusted, but the floor is covered in carpet instead of plastic. The audio system jumps to eight speakers, wipers turn themselves on, leather lines the steering wheel and handbrake and gearshift boots, sat-nav is standard, the rear-view mirror automatically adjusts to reduce dazzle, and the door sills feature aluminium inserts.

Packages include Comfort ($2490), which adds dual-zone air conditioning, electric adjust front seats in synthetic leather trim, and a storage net in the front passenger footwell. A Style package ($3750) adds LED headlamps, an electric rear window, tinted rear windows, side steps, roof rails and 18-inch alloys.

The two-variant “sports and leisure” Power range is priced from $61,600 with a tub on the back. It includes chrome-look exterior trim, classier-look synthetic leather trim, the “Comand” multimedia interface used in Merc’s passenger car line-up, a surround camera system, digital radio, keyless entry and start, and parking sensors. Once again, a Style package is offered, featuring an electric rear window, tinted rear windows, running boards, roof rails and 19-inch alloys.

A $590 Winter package is offered across all three model grades, featuring heated seats and warmed windscreen washer nozzles.

Pricing for the V6, which will include permanent all-wheel-drive – which will make the X-Class a direct competitor to the V6-engined Volkswagen Amarok – is expected to be announced closer to that model’s November arrival.