Daimler Doubling Down On Maybach

It’s been a short, strange trip for Maybach, as Daimler’s über-luxe branding effort went from toast of the nouveau riche to played-out self-caricature in a few short years. Needless to say, TTAC has been awaiting the long-overdue death of that brand for some time now, only to be stymied by a “final” facelift and a Xenatec-developed Coupe. Now, with Aston Martin reportedly working on the new look of the brand that “nobody at Daimler wants to let die,” Maybach’s masters are finally admitting to the fact that TTAC pointed out back in 2007: The Super S-Class was “born old hat.” Autocar reports:

Originally created to be profitable at 800 cars per year, Maybach has regularly struggled to sell half that annually since the launch of the 57 and 62 in 2002. Insiders now admit the decision to base the Maybach on the platform of a two-generations-old S-class, the W140, was a mistake.

Doing so prevented Mercedes from updating the upmarket limousine’s standard features with new navigation, communication and entertainment systems, as well as new safety features owing to an incompatible electronics platform dating back to 1990.

D’oh! But don’t worry… this won’t happen again. Honest.

According to the British buff book, the new Maybach lineup of long- and Venti-wheelbased luxury sedans will debut in 2014

based on a modified version of the next-generation S-class’s contemporary rear-wheel drive underpinnings and electronics platform.

That S-Class will launch in 2013, which means it will be only one year old when the Maybach versions debut. That, along with huge strides in electronics systems, should make the next generation of Maybachs more enduring than the previous generation… but bringing the brand back is still far from a no-brainer. After all, it’s not as if there’s a huge amount of equity left in the brand built on a platform that was replaced 11 years ago. Moreover, Aston’s designers will have to do a far better job differentiating the ‘bach from its S-Class donor than the first generation’s designers did. And on that front, Autocar’s report that

the new Maybach is set to boast a “traditional three-box design”, in line with buyer tastes

is hardly encouraging. Wasn’t the first generation “conservative” enough? Who wants to bet that, between the 2014 launch of the new Maybachs and the 2016 launch of the next Rolls-Royce Phantom, the Goodwood Giant won’t continue to crush its German-branded rival?