Mercedes-Benz set the starting price of the Maybach S-Class sedan at 134,100 euros (US$166,700), including value-added tax, and began taking orders for the would-be challenger to Rolls-Royce and Bentley.
The Maybach, which is longer than the standard S-Class, will reach showrooms in February, the division of Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler AG said today in a statement.
“Numerous exclusive details underline the car’s ambition to lead” the chauffeured-car segment, Mercedes said.
The manufacturer is reviving Maybach as a sub-brand to regain an ultra-rich clientele as Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche pushes for Mercedes to overtake BMW and Audi in luxury-car sales by the end of the decade. An attempt in 2002 to restore the 1930s-era Maybach marque as a stand-alone brand was halted a decade later after the cars failed to attract buyers.
Mercedes fell behind Munich-based BMW in premium-car deliveries in 2005, and Audi has outsold Mercedes since 2011. Mercedes is using the Maybach to target buyers of BMW’s Rolls-Royce nameplate and Volkswagen’s Bentley marque.
