So Mercedes is going to cease all Maybach production by 2013. The purpose of this thread isn't to talk about whether or not it was better or worse then a Rolls Royce or Bentley as those threads abound. I'm more interested into why it failed against the competition which have been selling just fine.
Personally I liked the Maybach range because of it's restrained styling and fantastic interiors. However I feel that it's cascade failure was a result of several failures in marketing, brand image, and model diversification.
Here is a chronological list of the model Line-Up and what I think went wrong.
- Maybach 57- $341,750
- Maybach 57 S-$381,250
- Maybach 62 - $392,750
- Maybach 62 S -$432,250
- Maybach 57 Zeppelin $???
- Maybach 62 Zeppelin$???
- Maybach Landaulet -$1,350,000
- Maybach Exelero- One off, no price.
This failure of course make these statements completely ironic looking back.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/featured-cars/235023-thus-sprache-zetsche-maybach-not-going-anywhere.html