Having driven the X-Class at the press launch at the end of last year, this drive consisted of a quick spin and little bit of well-planned off-roading.

At the time I wrote that, I said I would reserve judgement on the new pickup until I got to spend some quality time with it.

The first thing I noticed when I sat into the Mercedes was the stunning specifications that the Power line version came with, including Keyless Go, lane keeping assist and a fire extinguisher. All the time I hoped that the latter wouldn’t be required.

Looking down through the list of standard equipment and optional extras, one item that drew my attention was the inclusion of the Smoker pack. On closer inspection, this includes the addition of an old-style lighter in what is more commonly used to charge phones and a removable branded Mercedes ashtray. Only in a Mercedes would such an extra possibly exist.

The cabin of the X-Class is beautifully finished and you do feel as if you are sitting in a premium product with all the comforts you would expect from the German giant. Lovely comfortable seats and a leather bound steering wheel make you feel as if you could be sitting in any of the brand’s executive saloon cars.

From the outside, the X-Class is very impressive with its flat nose dominated by the three-pointed star. There is no mistaking that this is a Mercedes.

On the road

Firing up the Mercedes with Keyless Go involves a simple push of a button. The engine fires up quickly and easily. The engine unsurprisingly sounds very similar to the Nissan Navarra as it is the same 2.3-litre Renault unit that is used in both. This is not a bad thing but it seems a little bit less refined than the rest of the package suggests.

Once on the move, the engine has plenty of power with 190hp on tap and lots of torque. It is a well-proven unit in its Nissan counterpart. This power is transferred through a seven-speed automatic gearbox to the back wheel unless all-wheel drive is engaged.

On the road, the X-Class has impeccable manners. It is very comfortable on the majority of road types and spectacularly good at eating up motorway miles. On the back roads it is very comfortable except for a very slight bit of chassis shudder that can become apparent on choppy surfaces. This is only noticeable when there is no weight in the load area of the pickup and was even negated when two adults were in the back seat.

This slight issue is far better than the usual pickup bounce that affects most of the rest of the market, including the Navarra. This shows that the suspension work done by Mercedes really does its job and makes the X-Class a contender in the premium pickup market which is currently bossed by the Volkswagen Amarok.

Off road

Sitting in the opulent surrounding of the cabin, it seemed a little out of character to be heading down mucky farm lanes in pursuit of farm machinery. Once over the shock of dirtying the Bering white metallic paint of the test car, the X-Class showed that it is a very impressive machine on the rough stuff.

When asked to roll its sleeves up and get dirty, it got on with it. Four high was engaged and it scampered down a very muddy farm lane and across field after field and the badly cut-up gaps between them that are commonplace at this time of year.

Verdict

This pickup has been rumoured for a long time and doesn’t disappoint. Any issues I have with it are not on the Mercedes end – they are carry-overs from the Nissan that it is loosely based on. The Navarra is very good, so the X-Class is better. The test car as usual was of very high spec but the lower-spec version can be bought with a price tag that starts with the number three (under €40,000).

The X-Class will find a place in the market and units will be sold to both the leisure and the agricultural market. I personally am looking forward to the introduction of Mercedes’ own V6 engine to the X-Class.

I believe that that will make it a truly stand-out luxury pickup.