Wednesday 15th August 2012

Maybach - RIP

Production of Mercedes' uber-barge has ended, Shed here we come...

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Farewell Maybach - the countdown to shed status begins now. Owner Mercedes confirmed to PistonHeads the revived luxury brand has become defunct, again. "Production ceased in June," a spokesman has told us.

Slow demand scuppered Mercedes' dream of rivaling Rolls Royce with its immense limousine. Merc had targeted global sales of around 1,000 a year, but that settled at around 200. Last year just 46 found homes in Europe, compared to 472 for Rolls Royce and 1,774 for Bentley. The Mulsanne alone sold five times as many.

It's bad when even the chauffeur turns his back

The Maybach 57 and stretched 62 first went on sale in 2002 after a long and drawn out launch during which everyone had to be reminded of the original German luxury brand that last built a car just before the second world war.

Despite a lot of carryover from Mercedes, including the 5.5-litre twin-turbocharged V12, the Maybach was suitably imperious with plenty of ooh-ahh features. We're thinking more of the lie-flat rear seats in the 62, rather than the hydraulically damped tissue holder.

The price was suitably over the top too, costing from £243,780.

But it just couldn't compete against the luxury British brands, albeit transformed by VW and BMW, which resonated far louder with the brand-conscious elite. The curiously bland looks didn't help either.

We knew the axe was likely to fall in November last year, when Merc boss Dieter Zetsche told a German newspaper that a successor to the 57/62 wouldn't be developed, but this is the confirmation. Not even the dubious celebrity status inferred on it by owner and Dragons' Den-izen Theo Paphitis (who wrapped his in mirrored silver) could save it.

Happily, there's nothing like obsolescence to hasten a luxury car's descent into the Barge Bargain thread and onward to Shed. Despite a brief moment of fame in 2009 when the 62S was judged the fastest depreciating car in Britain, losing £350 a day, prices are still fairly strong.

Cheapest in the classifieds is a 2003 57 with 35,800 miles going for £80,000 - that's £20k cheaper than the nearest RR Phantom, but still a long way from troubling a similar vintage S-class. Rarity could prevent a wholesale price collapse, in which case let us recommend a W12 VW Phaeton for £12k instead.

[toppstuff]

It is quite staggering how inept this whole project has been.

Think about it. Mercedes' rivals BMW invest in Rolls Royce, while VAG invest in Bentley. Both enterprises are enjoying record sales, selling masses of high margin cars into emerging markets. Both have been incredibly successful at a time when the mainstream brands have been facing recession in their domestic markets.

And then you have Mercedes effort. A dull design with little flair, no attempt to diversify the range with new models and a totally hamfisted marketing strategy. Hopeless.

Billions of Euro's wasted. A competitive advantage awarded to their competitors that may take a generation to fix.

Heads should roll.

Edited by toppstuff on Wednesday 15th August 10:16

[Dominic H]

Hydraulic tissue box or not, for many it's just a big W220 S-Class with more toys. You can't help seeing one and thinking that the RR Phantom would've been the better choice....

[Earl'Dingleberry]

Good riddance.

[Geoffcapes]

A totally hideous car!

No wonder it didn't sell.

Like an S class with chavy bling!

Ideal if you're a rapper, not so it you are a captain of industry.

[mooseracer]

That Phaeton looks good value, if you can afford to run it

[Dave Hedgehog]

Geoffcapes said:

A totally hideous car!

No wonder it didn't sell.

Like an S class with chavy bling!

Ideal if you're a rapper, not so it you are a captain of industry.

the biggest problem is the S is so good and a lot cheaper and probably has a higher prestige marketing wise

[vixen1700]

Ghastly things, used to see a fair few when I worked around Knighstbridge, and they just looked awful. Totally styled by committee.

[405dogvan]

Dave Hedgehog said:

the biggest problem is the S is so good and a lot cheaper and probably has a higher prestige marketing wise

and is a whole model newer given that Maybachs are based on the older S are they not?

[LotusOmega375D]

I think the old lady next door has one. This is it:



No sorry, that was her old one. This is the new one:

Edited by LotusOmega375D on Wednesday 15th August 10:43

[Cheib]

God they're hideous cars.....amazing that Merc got it SO wrong. I actually saw one yesterday (work in the West End) and commented to my colleague at how friggin hideous it is.

I know the like of Paphitis like to claim it's a great car but the relaity is you can get a Merc van a turn it into a better mobile office than this piece of st.

[off_again]

Parts bin Merc that looked like an S-class that was less than half the price (new). Other than a few specific and image-based buyers, most customers went for the Merc and saved a lot of money which they probably blew on something else instead.

Given that a Roller and Bentley is also parts bin, its surprising why Merc made it look so similar. At least with the other "premium" brands, they managed to make them feel, look and behave differently! Merc just made it more expensive....

Hated them from day 1 and to be honest, glad to see the back of them. Now Merc can concentrate on making really good, desirable and forward thinking cars. Concentrate on what they do best and build on the return to form they are finding at the moment - now that interesting!

[Dave Hedgehog]

off_again said:

Parts bin Merc that looked like an S-class that was less than half the price (new). Other than a few specific and image-based buyers, most customers went for the Merc and saved a lot of money which they probably blew on something else instead.

Given that a Roller and Bentley is also parts bin, its surprising why Merc made it look so similar. At least with the other "premium" brands, they managed to make them feel, look and behave differently! Merc just made it more expensive....

Hated them from day 1 and to be honest, glad to see the back of them. Now Merc can concentrate on making really good, desirable and forward thinking cars. Concentrate on what they do best and build on the return to form they are finding at the moment - now that interesting!

just about every car on the road is parts pin to some extent even zonda its a stupid term

its the sum of the parts that counts

[Schnellmann]

Only surprise is that it lasted so long.

A really can't understand how anyone at MB signed it off, thinking that is was a great design/shape and was going to compete with RR. What is more surprising is that it comes from the same company as the current S class, which is so good and so good-looking. Very odd.

Perhaps MB should do the decent thing and buy them all back and crush them so that we don't need to be reminded of its existence.

[Mark-C]

mooseracer said:

That Phaeton looks good value, if you can afford to run it

Maybach has been a disaster from start to finish for MB - it just didn't have the sense of occasion you get from a Phantom and you don't spend quarter of a million (or more) for a bloated S Class.

The Phaeton was hardly a roaring success for VW but that is a massive amount of very good car for 12k ...

[300bhp/ton]

Ooops didn't even realise they were still making these. Thought they'd stopped ages ago. I'm sure they are highly accomplished vehicles, but they don't half look dreadful in my opinion.

[Stuart]

I think that the thing which in a nutshell sums up why this car is so wrong is the inclusion of these as standard. Says it all.

[SA7]

Oh so sad to hear. G-Unit will be crying right now. A lot.

[Nors]

Won't be missed, awful thing! Should never have been called a car, more like a rolling IKEA.

I'm with the concencus, massive fail MB!

[300bhp/ton]

SA7 said:

Oh so sad to hear. G-Unit will be crying right now. A lot.

What's a G-Unit?

[r7ehw]

I did get to sit in one of these once and it was an amazing place to sit and play with the range of gadgets. After 15 minutes I got out of it thinking wow but never once have I ever wanted to aspire to owning one.

The same can not be said of a Rolls, a Bentley or even a Merc S class!