Having just launched the ultra-luxurious version of the S-Class saloon bearing the Maybach name, Mercedes is planning to take its once-moribund super-luxury brand and apply it to other models.
Questioned at the Detroit Motor Show, Merc boss Dieter Zetsche said that it was most likely that the Maybach brand would show up other than just on the S-Class, and that the next model would be an SUV.
Model-badging
That probably means that we’ll see a Mercedes-Maybach version of the new GLS, which will replace the hulking GL-Class when it arrives later this year.
Well, not exactly replace. You see, as Mercedes is changing its model-badging policy across the board, the GLS will actually be the current GL-Class, but with a facelift and some new engines.
The updated 3.0-litre V6 diesel will slot in as will, very likely, the plugin-hybrid power train from the S400 saloon. Just as the GL-Class will be facelifted into the GLS, so too will its smaller brother, the ML-Class – that will become GLE and will sit alongside the just-revealed GLE Coupe in the range. Mercedes will quite likely need a Maybach version of the GLS to be a success.
With Bentley on the cusp of revealing its Bentyaga SUV, Rolls-Royce still umming and ahhing about making a top-line 4x4 and BMW plotting a big X7, premium and super-luxury SUVs are going to be big news, and generating big sales, in the years to come.
