RE: Maybach's Fate Hangs In The Balance
Tuesday 21st June 2011
Maybach may be demoted to a sub-brand of Mercedes, as Daimler AG considers the future of its luxury marque.
Maybach's Fate Hangs In The Balance
Daimler mulls death, sub-brand or tech tie-up with Aston Martin for Maybach
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.
Discussion
(fixed now)
I think the Maybach was symptomatic of the general line of thinking at Mercedes at the time it was conceived.
Too much spec, not enough integrity. If they'd tried to do half as much, but do it twice as well, the Maybach could have been a go-er.
Not much point putting it on the back of existing Mercedes as a trim-level, or 'autobiography' equivalent - whatever emotional weight the name had from the old days (which was almost none) is now sullied.
The whole thing is a bit of a disaster, really. I can see why they did it - with their main German competitors each buying a super-luxury brand - but even if viewed purely as a corporate w
k, it hasn't worked.
Too much spec, not enough integrity. If they'd tried to do half as much, but do it twice as well, the Maybach could have been a go-er.
Not much point putting it on the back of existing Mercedes as a trim-level, or 'autobiography' equivalent - whatever emotional weight the name had from the old days (which was almost none) is now sullied.
The whole thing is a bit of a disaster, really. I can see why they did it - with their main German competitors each buying a super-luxury brand - but even if viewed purely as a corporate w
k, it hasn't worked.BarnatosGhost said:
I think the Maybach was symptomatic of the general line of thinking at Mercedes at the time it was conceived.
Too much spec, not enough integrity. If they'd tried to do half as much, but do it twice as well, the Maybach could have been a go-er.
Not much point putting it on the back of existing Mercedes as a trim-level, or 'autobiography' equivalent - whatever emotional weight the name had from the old days (which was almost none) is now sullied.
The whole thing is a bit of a disaster, really. I can see why they did it - with their main German competitors each buying a super-luxury brand - but even if viewed purely as a corporate wk, it hasn't worked.
Agreed. I reckon better to kill it than to slap a badge on a posh Merc. I think you're being too kind likening it to Autobiography...Too much spec, not enough integrity. If they'd tried to do half as much, but do it twice as well, the Maybach could have been a go-er.
Not much point putting it on the back of existing Mercedes as a trim-level, or 'autobiography' equivalent - whatever emotional weight the name had from the old days (which was almost none) is now sullied.
The whole thing is a bit of a disaster, really. I can see why they did it - with their main German competitors each buying a super-luxury brand - but even if viewed purely as a corporate w
k, it hasn't worked.Riggers said:
BarnatosGhost said:
I think the Maybach was symptomatic of the general line of thinking at Mercedes at the time it was conceived.
Too much spec, not enough integrity. If they'd tried to do half as much, but do it twice as well, the Maybach could have been a go-er.
Not much point putting it on the back of existing Mercedes as a trim-level, or 'autobiography' equivalent - whatever emotional weight the name had from the old days (which was almost none) is now sullied.
The whole thing is a bit of a disaster, really. I can see why they did it - with their main German competitors each buying a super-luxury brand - but even if viewed purely as a corporate wk, it hasn't worked.
Agreed. I reckon better to kill it than to slap a badge on a posh Merc. I think you're being too kind likening it to Autobiography...Too much spec, not enough integrity. If they'd tried to do half as much, but do it twice as well, the Maybach could have been a go-er.
Not much point putting it on the back of existing Mercedes as a trim-level, or 'autobiography' equivalent - whatever emotional weight the name had from the old days (which was almost none) is now sullied.
The whole thing is a bit of a disaster, really. I can see why they did it - with their main German competitors each buying a super-luxury brand - but even if viewed purely as a corporate w
k, it hasn't worked.
didnt seem to have the image, class or presence of rolls, and wasnt flash enough to take on the bentley boys
it just looked like an s class on steroids - which in turn was looking like a c class on steroids at the time.... corporate dna became to diluted through overuse - maybe increasing the gene pool with aston may help mercedes exit this pile of po*, but unless it was free I would have thought Aston have far more important things to get done that build a maybach/lagonda folly....
Maybe they should merge it with saab and get the chinese to buy it / looks like the sort of thing they would have designed anyway !
btw - in case you weren't sure - I'm not a fan!
it just looked like an s class on steroids - which in turn was looking like a c class on steroids at the time.... corporate dna became to diluted through overuse - maybe increasing the gene pool with aston may help mercedes exit this pile of po*, but unless it was free I would have thought Aston have far more important things to get done that build a maybach/lagonda folly....
Maybe they should merge it with saab and get the chinese to buy it / looks like the sort of thing they would have designed anyway !
btw - in case you weren't sure - I'm not a fan!
A Maybach should have a unique body, nothing in common with the S-Class shape, that's where Merc went wrong imo. I'd like to see Merc contine with the Maybach brand sticking with V12's only and develope it as the modern 600. It's great name & has history, it would a shame to see go back into the automotive dustin.
Johnboy Mac said:
A Maybach should have a unique body, nothing in common with the S-Class shape, that's where Merc went wrong imo. I'd like to see Merc contine with the Maybach brand sticking with V12's only and develope it as the modern 600. It's great name & has history, it would a shame to see go back into the automotive dustin.
Too many 'parts bin' recycling in the interior from the W220 series. Not what you expect, or want, for £300,000+I am looking forward to the day that the 62's drop to silly money so I continue my practice of using very large cars around London.
I parked my S600L next to a Maybach 62 and it made my car look like a toy. Then again, the factory stretched Maybach I saw a few months ago (yes...a stretched 62!) at MB World was like the Seawise Giant/Jahre Viking.
Rawwr said:
I'd rather have and/or be driven around in an S-Class, to be honest.
I wouldn't! I've been in both and the Maybach is a great place to spend a few hours....If you had enough money and had to be occasionally chauffeured to a heliport; it would be the Maybach.
Edited by OdramaSwimLaden on Tuesday 21st June 14:22
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff