Mercedes mulls mini Maybach (updated)

Newswheel staff :: 11 May 2005 :: Filed under Saloon, Maybach, Maybach Exelero, Europe & UK, US,

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Smaller Maybach smells of CLS

It’s not just Rolls Royce that’s been enviously observing as Bentley coins it with the blockbuster success of the Continental GT (see A Rolls for proles?). US magazine Motor Trend now has the skinny on plans for a bargain basement Maybach.

Driving up volumes is the name of this mini Maybach’s game - Bentley has proven that there’s a much bigger market for cars in the global $150,000 - $200,000 segment than even the money men from the firm’s German owner, VW, had dared dream. Few details of this presumably more compact land yacht are available, but Motor Trend suggest it will take the form of a pillarless, four-door coupe. That’s very close, if not quite identical, to the philosophy behind the slinky Mercedes CLS. Problem is, it’s hard to imagine the new car delivering any more visual impact than the eye-popping CLS. What’s more, if the CLS is good enough to be bought by the likes of Bernie Ecclestone (the unfeasibly wealthy grand fromage of F1), who needs a Maybach at a 50 per cent premium? Well, Bernie at least could do with a new set of wheels for his CLS. 

Anyway, with Bentley, Rolls and Maybach all piling in, will there really be enough customers to go round?

UPDATE:
Images of a new Maybach coupe concept have just been released and could point towards the styling of the new cheaper model. The Maybach Exelero is a one-off special developed and produced for the Fulda Tyre company on behalf of Maybach by prototype specialists Stola. Fully road legal and compliant with all current regulations, the car recently hit 354kph (218mph) at the Nardo track in Italy. Despite the fact that it’s powered by a 700bhp twin turbo Merc V12, and not the ubiquitous supercharged V8, we suspect there’s an SLR lurking underneath those Batmobile-tastic lines. Oh, and it weighs well over two tons. Tons of attitude? Yes. Pointless? Probably.

Linkage:
Motor Trend