Maybach has joined the expanding list of discontinued car brands in recent years after parent company Daimler AD announced its will cease the ultra-luxuy line with its 2012 models — and only a decade after its revival.
Poor sales was the culprit, with the Wall Street Journal reporting in Saturday, Nov. 26 editions that fewer than 200 Maybachs sold worldwide in 2010.
With the Maybach departing, the German luxury car maker said it plans to expand its S-Class Mercedes Benz, the top-end segment, to six models from the current three beginning in 2013.
The Maybach had a elegant, plush reputation, but its starting price begins at $375,200.
According to the newspaper, Daimler currently yearly sells close to 80,000 S-Class models, which start at $91,850.
Daimler revived Maybach, among Germany's most luxurious cars in the 1920s and 1930s, in 2002. At the same time, BMW and Volkswagen joined the super-luxury markets when they respectively purchased Rolls Royce and Bentley.
Article Last Updated: November 26, 2011.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
