Mercedes- Benz has decided to shut down its loss-making and under-performing luxe Maybach brand in 2013. While rivals Rolls Royce and Bentley continue to expand, perhaps they pulled the plug too soon. Ammar Alvi looks back at the unfinished story.
Daimler AG-Chairman Dieter Zetsche’s recent decision not to go ahead with replacement models for the firm’s existing 57 and 72 limos of Maybach due for 2014, raised many an eyebrow and confirmed their decision to pull the curtains over the ultra luxe brand.
The main reason for this sudden decision seems to be driven by poor sales. The company has decided to bolster the Mercedes-Benz brand instead, and work on the next-gen S-class, which will be offered in three wheelbase variations, including a top-of-the-range S600 Pullman. Diamler claims to have done a thorough study and felt it might be a good decision to push the S-class to a range where it could compete with Rolls Royce and Bentley instead. Except for its country of origin, Germany, Maybach failed to register numbers in most key markets around the world.
Maybach was a brand resurrected by Mercedes-Benz in 2002 when it failed in its bid for the Rolls Royce and Bentley brands from then owners Vickers, losing out to Volskwagen, which went on to keep Bentley even as it sold off Rolls Royce to BMW. More than 100 years ago, Wilhelm Maybach built a car that heralded the modern era. His Opus No.1 went down in history as the first Mercedes, and he is still remembered as the “king of the design engineers”. In the relaunch, the 57 and 62 were named after their respective lengths of 5735 mm and 6170 mm. Both were based around stretched underpinnings of the already superceded third-generation S-class, first introduced in 1991. The company will continue to produce the two till early 2013, before the new S-class is released.
Maybach no doubt has its share of fans and has enjoyed some success in India, but it never had the potential to take on its rivals. Now that the end is near, we hope Merc can recreat its fantasy with the 2013 S-class.