What If: BMW X5 Pickup Truck – Rendering

Late last year, Mercedes-Benz unveiled their upcoming pickup truck in the form of the new X-Class Concept. According to Mercedes-Benz, the new X-Class will be the world’s first true “premium” pickup truck which will go on sale this year. “With the Mercedes-Benz pickup, we will close one of the last gaps in our portfolio,” Dieter Zetsche, Daimler chairman and head of Mercedes-Benz cars, said at the time. “We want to offer customers vehicles matching their specific needs. The X-Class will set new standards in a growing segment.” This Benz pickup will combat with the likes of the new Ford Ranger and upcoming Toyota Hilux.

Being a competitor of Mercedes-Benz, it comes with no surprise that BMW customers have begun to wonder whether the Munich-based automaker will follow suit, which automatically led to some fans-created renderings portraying a BMW pickup truck. Some BMW engineers did go a bit mad and create an E92 M3 pickup Ute, but that was a one-off vehicle not developed for sale and it was nearly six years ago.

Based on our conversations with several BMW sources, for now, BMW is uninterested in making utility vehicles and focuses more on luxury and performance of their Sports Activity Vehicles. Yet, a new rendering surfaced today on the Internet. Put together by Rain Prisk, the rendering takes hints from the front-end of the BMW X5, paired with some design cues only found on trucks, like the massive front bumper with plenty of ground clearance. The side view is that of a typical truck, riding on large diameter wheels and a generously sized load area behind along with a removable Targa roof. The rendering is exactly what you’d expect from a premium pickup truck, but if BMW were to build one, the emphasis on the driving dynamics would be as equally important as that of a cargo space.

If Mercedes does well with their premium truck business, maybe BMW bosses will pay closer attention to a market that seems out of their reach at the moment. The Bavarians are also known to adapt to market requirements, from their SUV lineup to front-wheel drive vehicles, the product lineup has evolved and adapted over time.

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