Was it the beer or the sausage? Something must have slipped into Dieter Zetsche’s meals recently, because now we’re hearing from the Mercedes-Benz head and chairman that the Stuttgart, Germany-based automaker is going to start production on a pickup truck.

Outside of the above rendering, details and confirmations are hard to come by, but here’s what we do know: it will be a mid-size, along the same lines as the Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, and GM’s Colorado or Canyon; it will initially only sell in Europe, South Africa, Australia, and Latin America; and it’s set to debut sometime before 2020.

MB’s experience with ruggedness is perhaps best reflected in the G-Wagen. Will the automaker’s experience with building these SUVs play a role in the new truck? You bet!

“The Mercedes-Benz pickup will contribute nicely to our global growth targets,” 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’s a lot of possibilities and “what if’s” stuffed into such a proclamation, but just going by what the trends are indicating in the truck market, we can likely expect a few things. Fuel economy will be a big concern, which will mean four-, five-, or six-cylinder motors. Perhaps between here and when the new truck arrives, even hybrid powertrains will start to come into vogue.

The MB name means the interiors and gadgetry will definitely be up to snuff (built-in seat massagers after a long day on the trail, oh yeah). Reliability will also be high on the goals list, and hopefully the experience with the G-Wagen has prepared MB sufficiently to guide the truck’s production.

What do you think? Should MB just stick to building ultra-lux sedans and coupes? Or will this new pickup prove to be a wise decision? Let us know in the comments below!