German Car Zone

It was supposed to set the world on fire. It was supposed to redefine luxury in the 21st century. It was supposed to make Rolls-Royce and Bentley irrelevant. What happened?..................in spite of the vast sums of money poured into marketing the Maybach, it has not exactly been a roaring success.

Anyway, this thread isn't about bashing the Maybach 57/62 - God knows I've done my fair share of that and so have many others. I want to know what you think MM need to do with the 57/62 in order to make them more attractive to buyers.

I know a lot of people love the interior of the Maybach. Personally I think it absolutely lacks character and a true sense of style. The wood looks like plastic and the overall impression of the cabin is injection-molded, machine-made, production-line. This wouldn't matter so much if the designers intended the Maybach to be a high-tech, new interpretation of luxury, but they didn't - it's still a cliché wood and leather interior when all said and done.

Personally I would like to see them re-design the interior on the 57/62 - less wood (even none) and a whole fresh interpretation on what a luxury interior should be - if they need help, then they should hire a top international designer like Antonio Citterio or Michele De Lucchi to help them - people who think beyond the obvious, yet still have a great understanding of the market they are working in.

The Maybach 62 really needs to offer a six or seven seat version - there is no manufacturer in the world offering a purpose-built 7 seat limousine - they should have done this from the beginning IMO.

Maybach has to really step back and look at how it can offer a more unique product, something more unique than a Mercedes Benz. A lot of the design from both the interior and exterior is very much the same as MB, not to mention a lot of the interior bits you can find in a couple of hunderd thousand dollars cheaper S-class. To start they need to establish a Maybach dedicated design team as well as engineering team, this would be one step in the right direction. I could go on and on w/ possible solutions, but the reappearing question that keeps popping up in my head is, "what's the point?" They already have the S-class which is a very capable and well established model line within the Mercedes Benz portfolio. The exsistence of the S-class just seems to make the Maybach look like an overzealous attempt at trying to cater to the same crowd as Rolls Royce, and I guess this is where it really sets in: Rolls Royce is an icon, Maybach is not.

That is all true Stuttgarter, but I can't imagine them dropping the Maybach project now - far too much money has been poured in to it. Also, a super-Mercedes (like the Maybach) designed to take on Rolls-Royce is not unprecedented - why do people forget about the (The Grand Mercedes 600 (W100))W100 - it sat above the S-class.

I don't remember the W100 because it wasn't in my time, but that too was still a Mercedes Benz. Maybach is like a bad joke, lol, seirously though, it was good the first time, but that's it... now it sucks.

I must know Robert, have you been inside a Maybach?
I haven’t, but I’ve been up close enough to many to look through the glass and stare at the interior. The wood doesn’t look like plastic at all to me. It doesn’t look like an S-Class interior either. It is so much better than the S-Class’ interior (and I love the S-Class’ interior). The interior design is very 21st century. I like the fact that the back is very roomy and everything is at your disposal. From the outside, it’s very elegant and gorgeous. I do agree that the Phantom has more presence from the front, but you should see this thing driving down the street – especially at night.

Why have a seven-passenger Maybach? That makes no sense at all. This is an ultra luxury sedan, not a limo. The whole purpose of making it a four-passenger sedan is just that (luxurious & comfortable). I’ve sat in a couple car service limos and they all move their front seats (especially the front passenger seat) all the way to the front just to make room for the backseat passengers. You don’t need to do that in a Maybach, you can sit very comfortably back there.

Also, how do you know it’s not a success? The ultra luxury market is not very big and I think selling 500 units a year is good enough. Not everyone can afford a $400,000 sedan, you know.

As I have said before, the Maybach needs time for everyone to recognize it. It had been absent from the ultra luxury market for decades while Rolls Royce was out there all this time. I think that DCX should advertise it more. That and also maybe changing the name, it should have been called the Mercedes-Benz Maybach IMO. That would have answered many questions from people who see it on the road and wonder what brand is it since they’ve probably never heard of a Maybach before in their lives.

In the end, it all comes down to your taste and mine. I’d take a Maybach any day and I’m sure you’d be very happy with a Phantom.

Just my fitty (50) cent LOL

G-G-G-G-G-G-G UNAAAAAAAT!!!!

Jokes, just had to do that, sorry

Yaz AMG, I have sat in a 57 but not a 62, to me the whole feeling was one of very high quality but not a real tactile sense of exclusivity.

I must also disagree with you about Maybach making available a seven seat version. After the Rolls-Royce Phantom VI and Daimler DS420 were discontinued in the early 1990's, there was a gap in the market for a head-of-state type limousine that could be used for official occasions. I'm not talking about a stretched car but a car designed specifically for the purpose. The Maybach 62 is long enough for them to have made a couple of optional jump seats .

What to do with Maybach?

Well the suggestion of something totally unique from Mercedes-Benz is best. A Maybach should be a totally different experience in looks, feel, design from a regular "Mercedes-Benz" product. That is a start.

Secondly they need something beside a sedan and bigger sedan. A large 4-seat convertible seems to be the norm for these ultra-luxury brands it seems so Maybach should follow suit I guess.

Maybach's interior design should be something not seen before and of stunning quality. They should go high-tech and futuristic, similar to the orginal concept's interior.

The only things they should share with Mercedes are things we can't see and of course engines. It would be too much to ask in DCX's current state for them to create a new lineup of engines expressly for Maybach, wouldn't make business sense.

M
M

Although i wouldn't agree with some 6 mtrs MM convertible, everything else you've said, M, is well put! I completely agree. MB needs to make Maybach to look and feel only like Maybach and nothing else.

The thing they need to do is to comeup with a design thats based on old MM´s and not new MB´s.. and everything will be fine..