DAIMLER FINALLY KILLS MAYBACH FOR S-CLASS

Previous rumours of Daimler’s plan to get rid of the super luxury Maybach brand seem to have been confirmed. An interview in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quotes Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche as saying that the company has come to the conclusion that Maybach is not as viable as previously thought. That really spells the second death of Maybach.

Zetsche reckons the next S-Class, scheduled to be sold in South Africa in late 2012/ early 2013, is so advanced and opulent that it could conceivably replace the Maybach. There are only two Maybach models, the 57 and the 62, both denoting car length (57 equals 5.7 metres). Zetsche hinted that other body shapes concerning the S-Class will be introduced to add to the sedan, Coupe (CL-Class) and long-wheel-base (LWB) currently on offer. That could mean a Shooting Brake and a Convertible among others.

Mercedes-Benz is trailing both BMW and Audi in premium sales, but aims to regain top spot by the year 2020 through selling more smaller cars like the new B-Class and upcoming A-Class. Both BMW Group, owner of Rolls-Rolls and Volkswagen Group, owner of Audi and Bentley, are experiencing unprecedented successes with their super luxury brands. Why Maybach has failed is the stuff of university studies. However, IN4RIDE hazards a guess at two reasons. One is that Maybach simply does not have the same historical heritage owned by Rolls-Royce and Bentley in the minds of the buying public. Secondly, there are far too many common styling and features between the S-Class and Maybach for customers to shell out at least an extra R2 million for the latter.