By Edward Niedermeyer
March 17, 2008
Daimler's Man in the Iron Mustache, Dr. Dieter Zetsche, told The Car Connection that Maybach may go the way of the Oldsmobile within the next two years. Zetsche said Maybach would either release an all-new model or go defunct. Dr Z openly admitted that "It's likely we'll not have a [positive] return on investment" for the brand. Luckily, "this does not matter." Last year, Daimler sold a whopping 146 Maybachs; roughly ten percent of the sales estimates bandied-about back when DaimlerChrylser revived the brand in 2002. As Zetsche doesn't expect the recently announced Landaulet to increase sales and Merc's launching AMG as a sub (uber?) brand, the odds are hight that Daimler will decide there's only room for one overpriced S-Class in their lineup and kiss Wilhelm Maybach's goodbye.
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POWERED
March 17th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
what will Russian mobsters drive?
March 17th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
God, that brand going bye-bye would be sweet. Something about it always irked me. Not just the conspicuous consumption aspect (although I duly hate the rich), but just the boredom of it all. Even the new Rollers/Bentleys have some personality.
March 17th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Maybach was pretty much doomed when Hyundai started copping their styling cues (or was it the other way around)?
March 17th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
And what will all those casinos in Vegas buy to replace them?
March 17th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Well, if D-B would buy Jaguar, they could again call their top-of-the-line offerings “Daimlers”
March 17th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
They should have called it the Mercedes-Benz 600 from the outset. Probably would have sold twice as many of ‘em.
March 17th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Dr Z openly admitted that “It’s likely we’ll not have a [positive] return on investment” for the brand.
Where have I heard this before?
March 17th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
This product was dumb from day 1. The only thing it has going for it is that the modern Rolls is even uglier.
What exactly is the point of Mercedes-Benz if the name isn’t good enough for the top-of-the-line?
March 17th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Thank God this blot on the landscape will be gone. Stupid idea, worse execution.
March 18th, 2008 at 12:17 am
That Exelero needs to be Maybach’s all-new model. Judging from the proportions, I bet they could make it out of a stretched SLR platform as a 2+2 or 4 seater. It would be a lot cheaper than starting from scratch and less lame/derivative than reskinning the current offerings. It would sell like hotcakes and could be Maybach’s “Continental GT” in terms of sales and popularity.
March 18th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Though there’s no good reason for it…it reminds me a little of a Monte Carlo.