New Mercedes S Class to use Maybach badge on top models?

Reports from Germany suggest that Mercedes will be using the Maybach badge on the very high-end S Class models when they launch.

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Having tried to bring the Maybach badge back from the history books and build a car to compete with Rolls Royce, Mercedes finally admitted it hadn’t worked last year and called time on their Maybach adventure.

But having spent untold millions on reviving the Maybach name – and giving it public awareness – it seems Mercedes may not be prepared to shelve the Maybach name completely as there seem to be plans afoot to badge the extra long Mercede S Class with the Maybach badge.

According to Auto Bild, Mercedes are planning to use the Maybach badge on the most expensive of four wheelbase versions of the new S Class, with the standard wheelbase, long wheelbase and Pullman models sitting below.

There’s a lot of sense in t rying to get some mileage out of the investment in the Maybach brand for Mercedes, and if it allows them to push the price of the S-Class Maybach beyond the £200k barrier by offering some of the ultra-luxury of the 2+2 Maybach, then why not?

If they do go this route then Mercedees will have a minimum of six variants of the S-Class on offer in the next couple of years: Mercedes S-Class, S-Class LWB, S-Class Pullman, S-Class Maybach, S-Class Coupe and S-Class Convertible.

It’ll be almost as hard to come out with the S-Class you went in the showroom with the intention of buying than it is with the Porsche 911.