Mercedes-Benz has confirmed it hopes to turn the newly created Mercedes-Maybach brand into an entire range of cars.
“I would not call it an active plan yet,” said Dr Hermann-Joseph Storp, the development director for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, at the Los Angeles motor show. “Because we have to first wait to see how successful the new saloon will be. But if the brand is popular, we could of course make a Maybach version of many different cars.”
Storp went on to say Maybach versions of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and GLS-class would be possible, as well as a Maybach-branded version of the existing S-class coupé.
“Maybach is about quality, refinement, comfort and exclusivity – as long as a car has these characteristics, it could be a Maybach,” he said.
The expansion of the Maybach brand would fit very clearly into the company's new naming strategy. With Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-AMG models being available across a vast range of product from the Mercedes-Benz A-Class to the S-class, it would be inconsistent for the Mercedes-Maybach sub-brand to continue to apply to just one car.
Storp said it would take up to two years to adapt an existing product to meet Maybach standards although it would take half that time to put a new engine in the Maybach which is available in Europe with only V8 and V12 petrol power, raising the prospect of a diesel Maybach going sale in Europe within the year.
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