Industry watchers are already aware of the possibility that a Mercedes-Benz Pickup may be released into the market. Recently, spy photos emerged showing a modified version of a Nissan Navara/NP300 that industry watchers think will be the pickup truck of the German luxury vehicle manufacturer, as shown on a report from autoevolution.com.

Mercedes-Benz already indicated that the pickup truck will be a mid-size vehicle designed mainly for South Africa, Latin America, Europe and Australia. Sales volume in the segment is expected to reach high levels by the end of the decade. It is possible for the vehicle to feature six-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines. They are also expected to enter the market before the end of 2017.

The payload of the upcoming Mercedes-Benz Pickup truck is expected to reach a ton and it will feature a good amount of versatility. Industry watchers consider the use of a Nissan Navara/NP300 as a mule for the upcoming premium pickup of Mercedes-Benz logical since the latest model of the pickup was launched by Nissan, which is an alliance partner of the German company. The vehicle features a distinctive character and is designed for the customers of the market identified by Mercedes-Benz.

While the first midsize pickup truck offering of Mercedes-Benz is expected to be the first in the class, it may soon find competitors in the niche. Officials at Lexus revealed the possibility that they will also come out with their own pickup. While Mercedes-Benz already made it official that they are set to develop their own pickup truck, this remains a possibility over at Lexus.

Mercedes-Benz appears to be a trailblazer when it comes to the development of niche markets. In the 90s, the ML-Class was launched by Mercedes-Benz, which is considered by a number of industry watchers as the first luxury SUV, BMW followed suit a year after with the firs-generation XS while the Q7 was launched by Audi.

While BMW and Audi revealed they have no plans of entering this particular market segment, it may still be possible for these two companies to unveil their own premium pickup trucks if the Mercedes-Benz Pickup shows that the market is profitable.