Mercedes-Maybach S-Class arrives to take on Bentley & Rolls Royce

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The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class has arrived, reviving the defunct Maybach name, as an ultra-luxurious S-Class aiming to take on Bentley and Rolls Royce.

Mercedes-Benz’ new sub-brand – Mercedes-Maybach – arrives in Los Angeles in the guise of the new Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, a car Mercedes hope can take on the ‘lesser’ Rolls Royce Ghost in a way the failed Maybach revival couldn’t to with the imperious Rolls Royce Phantom.

There are visual cues to the Maybach on the exterior – higher roofline, a longer wheelbase, new grill and Maybach badges – but it’s the interior that’s come in for all the attention, an interior that carries on where the Maybach left off and has even more room to lounge than the Maybach 57 did.

We’re not entirely sure how many cows it takes to make a Mercedes-Maybach interior, but every single piece of the interior that might make do with high-quality plastics in a pauper’s S-Class gets smothered in luxurious hide. In Mercedes words:

“To create only the very best from the very best – a car that fulfils every last wish and stands out for its supremely refined elegance and power” is the aim according to a Maybach brochure dating from 1930.

This continues to be the case today. In the interior of the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, passengers are enveloped in lounge-style, modern luxury. With its clear architecture, refined materials and stylish controls, the vehicle embodies a sensuous elegance.

Beyond the opulent hides there’s a plethora of goodies designed to comfort and cosset, stuff like Air-Balance Perfume Pack, Champagne flutes, Magic Sky Control, Picnic Tables, Burmeister Sound, massaging seats and even an optional Executive Rear Seat Package Plus to raise the bar higher still.

Under the bonnet lurks a revised version of the AMG 6.0 litre V12 (the only engine option in the UK), a 5.0 litre V8 or the V8 with 4MATIC.

All in all, at prices expected to be comfortably under £200,000 even with extras, the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class looks a far more convincing product than the old stand-alone Maybachs did, and will have more chance of encouraging potential buyers away from the Rools Royce Ghhost or Bentley Mulsanne than the old Maybach’s impossible task of besting the Phantom.