Zeppelin-sized Luxury: The Mercedes-Maybach SUV's Success is All but Guaranteed

Just as geese fly south in the winter, metal conducts electricity, and tides rise and fall at the will of the moon, a luxury-laden SUV that rivals yachts for sticker price is guaranteed by all of science to become a premium brand’s best-seller.

After seeing the stunning success of the once-unthinkable Bentley Bentayga, what other conclusion could the folks at Mercedes-Benz draw? Carving out a stratospheric utility vehicle niche well above a brand’s high water mark means money falling from the sky. Period.

Naturally, Stuttgart wants in on the action. Like any rational competitor, the company now plans to tart up an existing SUV, slap on a Mercedes-Maybach badge, and sit back to await the arrival of the money train.

According to Autocar, the canvas for the sub-brand’s newest ultra-luxury offering is the full-size Mercedes-Benz GLS. The seven-passenger beast, which should sport fewer seats after its transformation, is expected to bow in 2019 — just in time to battle Rolls-Royce’s Cullinan SUV and the aforementioned Bentayga. Finally, the Mercedes-Maybach S600 gains a partner.

At this point, unknowns abound. Sources claim the model could see its wheelbase stretched to top its rivals in spaciousness. No one wants leg cramps on the way to Cannes, after all. As well, the anticipated powerplant — a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 — might prove too pedestrian for this prestigious vehicle. An alternative engine with dignity and untouchable panache exists, but the company reportedly hasn’t made a decision regarding its twin-turbo 6.0-liter V12.

Because any Maybach-badged vehicle demands its own design cues, expect a host of cosmetic changes to the GLS’s appearance. The model’s grille, headlamps and taillamps are obvious candidates for change. According to Autocar, some of those cues could draw from the ridiculous Maybach 6 concept vehicle — a swoopy, block-long teardrop of a coupe. Good luck with that.

Pricing remains hazy, but the new model should command a sticker of at least $185,000. That’s nearly $120,000 more than the base GLS 450, and about $60,000 higher than the top-tier GLS S63.

Ultra-lux models like the Bentayga and Range Rover SV Autobiography, as well as lesser models like the Porsche Cayenne and Jaguar F-Pace, prove — at least for now — that mondo profits await any automaker willing to break with tradition.

[Image: Daimler AG]