I agree with you rev8000...
BUT for me, the Mercedes ultra-luxurious Ocean Drive, the Mercedes über-CLS, the Mercedes F700... are all signs that Mercedes will replace Maybach at short term in the ultra-luxurious sphere.

In the era of CO2-craziness that is very unlikely to happen...

It would be such cruel irony if the reason Mercedes gave Maybach such a strong infusion of Mercedes genes is to reap its halo effect only to suffer from the exact opposite - Maybach failing cause of its very strong resemblance to the S class.

Mercedes will have the Ocean Drive for that. The CO2-fury will not stop the brands from making exeptionnal cars, they are sold in such little numbers that it hardly increase the float-CO2 rejects.

For me Maybach is dead, Mercedes is strong again and want to prove it, to make the world recognize them again as the best carmaker the earth has ever known.
So they will make the OCD under their brand. This car is so cool, so 30's, so inspiring, so...Mercedes, that it will give them an enormous image-boost. IMO.

That, with the über-CLS, also a cool luxurious car, will allow them to be like before, Mercedes, Das Beste oder nichts (what could be said like Oscar Wilde's "I want nothing, but the best").

So they really don't need Maybach any more, it goes against their new strategy. IMO they will let it slowly die, because these kind of cars are not what impress people now.

The Gullwing or the OCD are better flagships than a big boot like a Rolls or Maybach, IMO. And it is almost impossible to compete against an image like Rolls... Even Bentley is far from having the same impact on peoples...

Just my opinion, of course.

I didn't mean that the CO2 emissions of Maybach vehicles would be an issue but to invest heavily on reviving a slowly dying luxury brand when at the same time huge sums of money is needed on lowering the whole MB's average C02 emission levels isn't an attracting choice.

Yes, sure, but what I think is that now Daimler is a bit small, so it has to put its shares at a high price and to win money. For that, they need a flagship. Not only economical Bluetechs.

They announced the sale of Chrysler.
Then a giant benefit, a lot of business economies with CORE, it lead to a new A-rating of their shares by a big bank.
Their cars seems to be the world's most reliable again.

All that lead to shares with 50% price increase, their main protection again a possible overtaking.

For me, they now want to be seen also as a Rolls competitor. The failure of Maybach (and of the big Bentley Arnage, far from selling like the Phantom) made them understand that Rolls is just Rolls and can't be competed. So imo they just will let MM die. Don't see them recognize the failure...

But they will go against Rolls with different concepts, lke the OCD, the über-CLS, or the green but ultra-luxurious F700.
These cars will give them a stature they once had.
The Gullwing will show the world that Benz is back to its former glory, back where it belongs, at the top of the automotive world. The SLR was a first step, not so successfull toward real car enthusiasts but oh so successful towart other people, due to its insane look.

These flagships, along with the first-class reliability and the "old-school Mercedes" design, are aimed to restore Mercedes in its full glory, I think.

I´ve never heard anything about an über CLS Class, coolraoul. The BMW 8er concordes what that philosophy, but an über CLs wont be anything more than a copy of a posible 8er.

Well they had it in project, even before we started to talk about the 8er. Don't know what it has become though. Some PS were made of it. It seems the ODC replaced this project in fact.

Problem is...we don't really have MB insiders here, so we only know about a new MB/project when the mules hit the road or Dr. Z speaks about it. The rest is only speculation...or not always very serious articles...