Behold! The Mercedes-Benz pickup truck!

Mercedes-Benz is building a pickup truck! Yes, the purveyor of some of the world's finest luxury cars is jumping headfirst into the ultra-competitive pickup market.

The Mercedes entry into the fray will be a mid-size truck, something on the scale of General Motors' Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon.

“The Mercedes-Benz pickup will contribute nicely to our global growth targets,” Daimler chairman Dr. Dieter Zetsche said in a statement. “We will enter this segment with our distinctive brand identity and all of the vehicle attributes that are typical of the brand with regard to safety, comfort, powertrains, and value.”

There are few regions of the auto market as intensely competitive and territorial as pickup trucks. Ford, General Motors, RAM, and Toyota have the US market neatly carved into devoted followings for their offerings. In fact, Ford's full-size pickup, the F-150, has been America's best-selling vehicle for decades.

Mercedes' new truck will not be headed for the US anytime soon. It will spend its time in Europe, South Africa, Latin America, and Australia.