Speaking to Australia’s drive.com.au at the global unveiling of the X350d in Slovenia last week, X-class Engineering Head, Frank Schumacher, said customer demand would, however, dictate the possibility of there being an X-class V8, but added that Mercedes-Benz would respond if enough requests warrant it.

“There is always more [power to be extracted], but that’s if the requirements come from a marketing point of view and if customers want more power – [it’s no different] with other platforms, we react to customers’ wishes. If there will be wishes after the launch of the vehicle that says we need to have V8 then probably we will put in a V8, but that’s always a response on customer request,” Schumacher said.

“We surely can make it happen, it’s just a question of what V8 you want to put in. You can put the six-litre in, yeah, but so far there is no plan. With a V8 you get out of the mid-size pickup but if you look at the market correctly most of the market is focussed on the four-cylinder”.

With the AMG fettled 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8 having been ruled out, the sole other V8 option is the similarly sized unit that power the S560, albeit retuned to produce 345kW/700Nm despite still utilising a twin-turbo setup.

At present though, the 190kW/550Nm 3.0-litre turbodiesel in the X350d, which will reportedly be the first pick-up to exceed the R1-million mark when it arrives next year, will be the most powerful X-class on sale to rival the 190kW Volkswagen Amarok 3.0 TDI also due to arrive in 2019.