BMW Executive Bashes ‘Appalling’ Mercedes Pickup: ‘They Can Do Better’

One BMW executive has been paying close attention to Mercedes-Benz’s first attempt at a pickup truck, and he’s not impressed in the slightest.

Hendrik von Kunheim, BMW’s vice president of Asia, South Africa and Australia, told reporters at the 2017 International Motor Show Germany (IAA) that he thinks the new Mercedes X-Class is “appalling,” according to Australian publication Motoring.

“When you look now at our German competitor from Stuttgart I think that product (X-Class) is appalling,” von Kunheim said. “You would have expected something more serious. I saw that car in Geneva and was actually disappointed. Very disappointed.

“They can do better, they build fantastic cars, but this one was a disappointment.”

Mercedes opted not to develop its first truck from the ground up, and instead built it using the chassis from the Nissan Frontier. It seems, however, that some of the X-Class’s Nissan DNA can be felt throughout the vehicle.

Von Kunheim claims that he has been reading reviews of the X-Class from various international media outlets, and he’s not alone in his condemnation of the pickup.

“I listened to some of your colleagues from other countries,” von Kunheim told reporters, according to Motoring. “They said it was very cheap, very plasticky, not very much Mercedes-like what you would expect.”

The BMW executive made no secret of the reason he’s so interested in the first pickup from any of the big three German automakers. Like Mercedes, von Kunheim feels that there’s a market for a luxury truck, and has pushed for one internally.

He’s so passionate about the idea of a “bimmer” with a bed, in fact, that he carries a reminder of the idea with him at all times. His phone case, which was made by his staff, reportedly features a rendering of a BMW pickup — which appears to be a digitally altered stock photo of a Ford F-150 Raptor.

Thumbnail photo via Daimler