Maybach may be demoted to a sub-brand of Mercedes, as Daimler AG considers the future of its luxury marque.
The demotion of Maybach to the sort of role Vanden Plas had in high-end British Leyland products of the 1970s and 1980s is only one possibility, however, according to industry car mag, Automotive News.
Those of you who have read our analysis of Aston Martin's future (and if you haven't, then why not?) will know that Aston Martin and Mercedes are in talks over a deal in which Aston will produce the second-generation Maybach (presumably Aston is also looking at the possibility of an Aston Martin version of that car).
Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche has confimed that the German company is in talks with Aston, but no other commercial partner has been mooted. Which brings us to the third possibility...
... that Daimler could of course also kill the brand entirely. Would that be a more dignified fate for Maybach than become a badge to slap on the rump of top end S-class, GL-class and CL-class Mercs? Almost certainly, but we won't find out what Daimler intends to do for a while yet, as a decision won't be made until late July.