Daimler to Drop Maybach, Focus on S-Class
Daimler AG will shut down its super- luxury Maybach brand when a revamped version of the flagship Mercedes-Benz S-Class comes to market in 2013.
“It would not make sense to develop a successor model,” Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said in remarks confirmed by Daimler spokesman Marc Binder. “The coming S-Class is in such a way a superior vehicle that it can replace the Maybach.”
Daimler hasn’t made a profit on the Maybach since it decided to reintroduce the 1930s-era marque in 2002, Zetsche said. Mercedes will double variations of the 72,000-euro ($95,000) S-Class to six as it seeks to boost annual vehicle sales by at least 10,000 a year and step up its challenge to Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) as the world’s top luxury-car maker.
...
