USA Today - Just a month after Daimler showed off a new diamond-studded Maybach at the glitzy Cannes Film Festival, a life or death decision is at hand for the slow-selling (non-selling?) superluxury barge.
According to a report tomorrow in Automotive News, Daimler will decide by July 1 to either kill the $460,000-plus sedan -- or partner with Aston Martin on a second generation. The trade journal quotes Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche as saying last week, "There is a higher likelihood to come to a positive decision" on a new Maybach if Daimler gets help and that it is talking with Aston Martin.
If the British maker could give even a bit of the style of its coupes and roadsters to the staid sedan, Maybach might have a chance. The current model may be the ultimate automotive lap of luxury, but it screams old and stuffy. On the other hand, Aston Martin style with four doors is a tantalizing thought.
The current Maybach went on sale in the U.S. in 2003. Daimler sold just 63 here last year (fewer than 200 worldwide) and is on pace for 45 this year, according to Autodata. Even in Maybach's rarefied segment, that's low.
Fellow Germans who took the high-end luxury plunge about the same time are doing much better. BMW's revived, more proletarian Bentley sold 1,430 in the U.S. last year. VW's snootier Rolls-Royce sold 512, the kind of number Daimler originally envisioned for Maybach.
Just last month, Daimler unveiled one-off custom Maybach by Grisogono to the glitterati at a Cannes party. The 62S Saloon was pimped with diamonds in the back seat (where the owner presumably rides) by the Swiss jewelry and watch maker. The companies said then that they'd show the grande dame even more tarted up with diamonds and other gems at the Dubai auto show in November -- to which they'd now have to add, IF there is a Maybach.
