First drive: Mercedes X-Class

Mercedes has built excellent vans for many years, but the X-Class is the brand's first foray into the lucrative pick-up truck market. AOL Cars gets behind the wheel...

What is it?

There aren't too many niches left to fill in the car world, what with coupe-SUVs, off-road city cars and crossover estates. However, Mercedes thinks it's found a new gap in the market – the premium pick-up truck.

This isn't as daft as it might sound at first. With more and more people buying pick-up trucks to use as their main family car, there's actually quite a big portion of the market who'd like their rugged workhorse to be a bit less utilitarian and a bit more luxurious. With almost a thousand pre-orders since the truck was revealed nine months ago, Mercedes could be on to something.