Maybach relies on V12 instead of an electric drive
Mercedes has announced a new luxury strategy under Group CEO Ola Källenius.
This not only puts pressure on the entry-level models with the star but also makes life more difficult for the luxury offshoot of Maybach. A new management team is to position the luxury brand with the double MM further up the market.
Daniel Lescow is a hard act to follow in the car industry - and certainly not in Mercedes. He has been the new Maybach boss since the beginning of April and his task is anything but easy. Maybach's figures fit, but the most exclusive brand in the former Daimler Group ranks well behind the competition from Rolls-Royce or Bentley in terms of luxury perception, and despite a completely different product portfolio, is itself struggling to scratch the surface of an exclusive sports car manufacturer like Ferrari.
The planned higher positioning of the core Mercedes brand will not make things any easier. But Daniel Lescow knows how to do it, because he knows Daimler, knows Mercedes, knows Smart and especially the all-important China business. This is where Maybach has been selling the majority of its models for years.
"China accounts for around two-thirds of all Maybach sales," says brand boss Daniel Lescow, "but markets like the USA and Korea are also very important for us. Europe is also doing very well, Germany is our fourth largest market." Lescow is to reposition the historically renowned brand, make it more desirable and especially more interesting for new and probably younger customers. Frequently, the newly formed Maybach management team sits together, talks about the individual markets, and looks at the competition and especially the clientele.
"Mercedes is moving up, so Maybach has to move up even further," Lescow soberly emphasises, "we have to jump higher than before. At the same time, no customer demands that we be the fastest or the most powerful, but there is still a great demand for V12 engines." The powerful twelve-cylinder engines from Mercedes are currently the biggest differentiator from the Mercedes S-Class, which offers the top engine alone in its Guard heavyweight. Time-wise, however, things will be tight for the dozen-cylinder in the second half of the decade at the latest, because when the upcoming, particularly strict Euro 7 emissions standard comes into force, the ageing V12 will have little chance of survival.
Maybach customers are aiming for unlimited luxury and maximum exclusivity; electric drives currently play a rather subordinate role. Electric Maybach variants are to follow in the coming years and even a Maybach version of the Mercedes G-Class is planned. This had already existed as an open Landaulet version of the G 650 in limited numbers in 2017. "A decision on the Maybach G-Class has not yet been made," admits Daniel Lescow, "but if it comes, it will also have to meet the standards of a Maybach, such as with individual seating." The luxury inside is to be further increased in the coming years - the model here is the special edition Maybach Haute Voitire.