Back from the dead: Maybach returns on LWB S-class

Mercedes-Benz today announced the return of the Maybach badge to distinguish its new range-topping limousine.

I thought they’d axed the Maybach badge?

Daimler killed the controversial Maybach brand with an announcement in 2011. Sales of the stretched limos never took off and the company’s ambition to challenge BMW’s Rolls-Royce and VW’s Bentley luxury nameplates fizzled into nothing.

Sales never rose above 300 a year and CAR calculated in 2012 that the company lost €330,000 on each Maybach sold, after the final models were registered in 2013.

However, Merc still holds some store in the historic badge; it’ll now grace the top-notch S-class.

2015 Mercedes-Maybach S600: what’s different from the S-class?

This is a long-wheelbase version (the exact stretch hasn’t yet been disclosed). Special first-class airline-style seats will be fitted, visible in the first teaser photos, and there’ll be a whole host of luxury extras, much of it garnered from the previous Maybach.

‘Mercedes-Maybach vehicles meet the requirements of even the most discerning customers worldwide,’ says Merc. ‘Mercedes‑Maybach is not an equipment line – it is a sub-brand that in future will deliver Mercedes-Benz vehicles in an even more exclusive form.’

It’s certainly a boon to the S-class range, which launched in 2013. It is the best-selling car in its segment globally; it sold more than 100,000 cars worldwide in its first year. But would the addition of a Maybach name on the rump encourage you to buy one?

Source: www.carmagazine.co.uk