Launched in 2017, the Mercedes X-Class is the German automaker's first attempt at a luxury pickup truck that nobody asked for. Except it isn't really a Mercedes - it's a rebadged Nissan Navara designed to compete with the Volkswagen Amarok and Ford Ranger.

The Mercedes X-Class is sold in Europe, Australia, and South Africa but has never been offered in North America, despite being the biggest pickup truck market in the world. Since it launched, sales haven't been encouraging, prompting Mercedes to admit the X-Class was a mistake. Even BMW has mocked the Mercedes pickup, branding it as appalling.

Now, insiders have confirmed to Auto Motor Und Sport that production of the X-Class will end in May 2020 following rumors last summer that the luxury pickup truck will be scrapped to help Daimler cut costs.

Mercedes told the publication it has decided to stop producing the "relatively young model" from the end of May because the X-Class is a niche product that only plays a major role in "some markets such as Australia and South Africa." Originally, the plan was to build the X-Class in Argentina for the South American market, but these plans were canceled because the "price expectations of customers in Latin America cannot be represented economically."

The demise of the X-Class doesn't come as a surprise when you look at the sales numbers. Mercedes only sold 15,300 units worldwide in 2019. For comparison, Nissan sold over 66,000 Navara trucks in the first half of 2020 alone. In 2018, Mercedes sold 16,700 examples in Europe, Australia and South Africa.

For most customers, the Mercedes X-Class was underpowered and too expensive. In Germany, the Mercedes X-Class starts €48,790, making it around €20,000 more expensive than the Nissan Navara in Europe, and is powered by a 3.0-liter V6 diesel producing 254 horsepower and 405 lb-ft of torque.