Maybach making a comeback
DAIMLER was set to revive Maybach, a brand that was once coveted by oligarchs, rap stars and royals, to woo a growing class of ultra-wealthy clients in Asia and the US, a person familiar with the company’s plans said.
The brand will be used to adorn an exclusive version of its Mercedes S-class limousine fitted with soft-touch leather and bespoke materials to lure clients from other high-end brands such as Rolls-Royce and Bentley.
The Maybach would be showcased at the auto shows in Guangzhou and Los Angeles in November and cost more than double the à165 000 (about R2.4-million) asking price of its flagship, the Mercedes-Benz S600, the person said.
The wheelbase of the Mercedes Maybach would be 20cm longer than even the extended version of the Mercedes S-class, allowing for extra leg space and making it the longest limousine in the Mercedes range until the expected launch of an even longer Pullman version, the source said.
Daimler stopped making bespoke Maybach limousines in 2012 after efforts to sell cars based on a unique design and costing about $380 000 (about R4-million) failed to take off.
Only 200 Maybachs were sold in 2011, but the cars were coveted by celebrities such as Russia’s Roman Abramovich, hip-hop musician Jay-Z and King Juan Carlos of Spain.
Since mid-2012, the number of millionaires worldwide had grown by nearly two million, most of them in the US and Asia, Credit Suisse said in its World Wealth Report.
There are 98 700 individuals with assets worth more than $50-million each, and by 2018 global wealth will jump a further 40% to reach $334-trillion, the Swiss bank’s study shows.
A Mercedes-Benz Pullman “state limousine” designed to ferry around politicians was also under development and looked set to cost up to $1-million in its armour-plated version, said the person familiar with Daimler’s plans.
The car’s wheelbase is expected to be a metre longer than that of the S-class to allow for an extra row of rear-facing seats in the passenger compartment.
The original Mercedes-Benz Pullman 600, launched by Mercedes-Benz at the Frankfurt auto show in 1963, was more than 6m long and had a top speed of 200km/h.
It gained notoriety as a “dictator ship” because it proved so popular with despots.
Owners of the Pullman, which had a complex hydraulic suspension that let it hustle along at high speeds on bad roads, included Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran, Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and Yugoslavia’s Josip Broz Tito.
At the time, Mercedes wanted to show rivals Rolls-Royce and Cadillac that it could make a car that was comfortable even at high speeds, a feat that was difficult for armour-plated vehicles weighing more than 3.4 tons. —