Luxury Brand Maybach May Spawn A Rolls-Royce Wraith Rival

Sep. 22, 2020 2:40 PM ET by Karl Furlong Luxury / 6 Comments

A sleek two-door Maybach sounds like a great plan to us.

For most of us mere mortals, the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class will suffice for the daily commute. It's got one of the most luxurious and innovative interiors in the world, and will soon be topped by hybridized AMG variants with unreal power outputs.

But for some, an S-Class isn't quite enough: enter Maybach, which occupies an even more exclusive echelon of luxurious motoring. If you thought that the lavish new S-Class has rendered the Maybach S irrelevant, think again. Mercedes is still very much committed to the Maybach sub-brand, and it may even morph into a separate brand on its own.

According to an Autocar report, Daimler CEO Ola Kallenius confirmed these sentiments. "Maybach has potential and we're intending to exploit that potential. It is our sub-brand for sophisticated luxury. Since we've introduced it, using the AMG playbook, focusing on sophisticated luxury rather than performance, we have had a great deal of success."

Late last year, the Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 was unveiled and Kallenius says that the response to the mega-luxury SUV has been "tremendous". That's good news for the Maybach brand and the upcoming Maybach S; we've spotted its opulent innards already, and it's sure to take the fight to Rolls-Royce and Bentley once again. The CEO described this car as taking the Maybach brand to "the next level."

Kallenius was asked whether coupe or cabriolet models wearing the Maybach badge would be possibilities in the future. His response was cautiously optimistic, saying that "if it makes [economic] sense", then it's definitely a possibility. Such a car would compete directly with the Bentley Continental GT and the Rolls-Royce Wraith. We've seen a Maybach Coupe Concept in the past, and based on that, it's a potentially winning recipe on their hands.

When it does arrive, the new Maybach S is expected to use a similar range of V8 engines as the latest S-Class, along with a V12-engined model. For now, Maybach fans can rest easy - the luxury brand isn't going anywhere.