The Mercedes-Maybach S600 has gone on sale with prices starting at £165,700. First UK deliveries of the super-luxury model are planned for June.
The S600 marks the return of the Maybach name two years after its was pulled by Mercedes-Benz because of faltering sales. Now the nameplate has returned for this V12-powered, extra-long-wheelbase S-class model.
Read the 2015 Mercedes-Maybach S600 first drive review here
The swish ‘upper luxury-class’ saloon received its public debut at the LA motor show last November. The car is planned to compete in a segment of the market occupied by the Bentley Flying Spur and Rolls-Royce Ghost.
For the £165,700 asking price, customers get a choice of leather, wood and stitching options. Other than more opulent paint colours, the only other option available is First Class Cabin, which swaps the three seat bench for two individual seats, which can recline to 43.5 degrees.
The list of luxuries on the S600 is long. Highlights include air-conditioned, heated and massaging seats, armrests that can be warmed, a system to pump scented, ionised air around the cabin, a 1540 watt Burmester 3D surround sound system with 24 speakers.
This saloon also heralds the sensational return of Maybach, which was written off by parent company Daimler after a troubled 10-year comeback.
This time, however, Maybach is a sub-brand that will sit within the Mercedes-Benz fold in much the same way as the Mercedes-AMG performance division does.
Company chiefs expect Maybach to exploit the growing customer desire for high-margin luxury vehicles in much the same way that AMG is sprinkling its go-faster stardust on an increasingly broad range of vehicles.
Mercedes sales and marketing chief Ola Källenius, who was boss of AMG between 2010 and 2013, said: “Mercedes-AMG is the blueprint for the extension of our brand. More than 40,000 AMG cars will be sold during 2014 and it is a great ‘co-pilot’ for Mercedes-Benz.
“With Mercedes-Maybach, we are applying the same logic as Mercedes-AMG, but in the area of prestige and exclusivity. It is not an equipment line; it is a sub-brand that, in future, will deliver Mercedes-Benz vehicles in an even more exclusive form.”
Källenius confirmed that the S600 won’t be the sub-brand’s only offering. “Our deliberations in the area of Mercedes-Maybach are not focused solely on the S-class,” he said, but he wouldn’t be drawn on other future models.
However, the crucial factor is retaining exclusivity, so the new sub-brand will be involved with cars at only the premium end of Mercedes’ vast model range.
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Personally I love it.
I would buy one over its competitors because its probably a better car. The S class is phenomenal, especially the interior. The Mercedes badge still holds a lotto weight with people, regardless of the fact that you can buy an A class. In some respects this car would be more exclusive than a Ghost or a Flying Spur, and a much better car than the Maserati or the Aston.
@roadster
The Germans cannot do luxury like the Brits
@ roadster
This is the attraction of S-class, and is why they have always outsold XJ's many times over.
If your idea of luxury is a Jag, you will never get what is so great about an S-class I am afraid.