Maybach Strikes Out Down Under

Only two words really; thoroughly embarrassing.

I guess all the prospective buyers figured out they were really just buying a tarted-up, last gen 1999-2005 S600 after all and so bought something less, shall we say, obsolete.

I saw one on a tow truck the other day in NY. Seriously what the hell was Mercedes thinking? The car is bloated and ugly, just look at the back of the bus. I think if mercedes applied the styling of the current S Class at the time, the car would of succeded.

Too many other upscale options out there... that offer more in the looks and luxury department for considerable less money.

Maybach...great on the inside. Plain Jane on the out side. People that spend that much $$$ want more flash and style.

Because S Class with reclining seats i mean Maybach can't match the royality and prestige of Rolls. and no sensible person should pay the price they are asking. Maybach should cut the price by 50%.

Rolls is much much superior. More classic.

It's nearly a month now that i have seen a Maybach on the road compare to atleast 1 Phantom i see here in Dubai everyday.

To me Rolls and Maybach are not on the same level.

JUGNU

Maybach needs a redesign. Period. The S-Class sales are through the roof, because it offers Maybach styling at less than 1/3 the price. If they do decide to keep the brand around a redesign as good as the last S-Class' was would be a total hit.

And btw. The S Class does have reclining seats.

It doesn't have an ottoman.

Anyway, I could never imagine someone buying a Maybach 62S over a gorgeous Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead... or two Bentley GTCs.

I believe M-B had the right intensions when pulling the Maybach brand out of the "mothballs". Their ultimate mistake was the execution of the actual vehicles representing the legendary luxury marque. The S-class platform was an excellent start, but the exterior should have been vastly differentiated from the (dare I say) run-of-the-mill S-class model. Maybe in their haste to just get a product out, they lost sight of making Maybach a unique brand, separate from DCX and the Mercedes-Benz division.

This is, clearly, a lesson they should learn from and study BMW's strategy with the Rolls-Royce brand. Had BMW released a RR that looked liked a dressed-up 7-series...it may have done just as bad as the Maybach in sales.

Hopefully, Daimler does not chose to close the brand, but instead, show the industry that they have some sort of imagination and re-design the Maybach exterior to match the all the luxuries contained in the interior.

I think that with the lack of differentiation in Maybach vs. Mercedes-Benz styling, plus the fact that Maybach orders are placed at select M-B dealerships, the verdict is that Daimler just did a bad job of justifying the Maybach's exorbitant price. The Maybach looks too much like an S-Class, while the S-Class can be optioned to near-Maybach equipment levels without approaching it's cost.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom is like nothing else on the road. You can just look at a Maybach and tell that it is related to the S-Class, and the fact that it's based on an S-Class platform from 2 years ago is the real rub.

It's worse than that - it's not based off the 1999-06 S class. It's based off the 1990-99 S class - the chassis is beefier and can support the heavier weight.
The Maybach doesn't have as good suspension as the S class (Airmatic DC rather than ABC or full Airmatic), the gearbox is older (no 7 G-tronic), the interior is older, and it is an ugly, bland car.
Add in the excellence of the S class and the Maybach is destined to fail.

I don't know if it's just me, but there's something wrong with the person who buys a Maybach instead of a Mercedes S600, SL550 AMG, GL550 and E320 Bluetec.

That's a very very good point S4 - 4 cars for the price of one...
let me think...in place of one Maybach 57S (selling at 300000 pounds) I would buy instead:
S63 AMG (99500)
Jaguar XKR Convertible (76000)
Audi Q7 4.2 TDI (53000)
Audi TT 3.2 Roadster (33000)
330i Convertible (yes we still have the 330i) (36000)

Wow, 5 cars. That's a lot.
You may have guessed I like convertibles.