Because a Maybach S-Class just isn’t enough, right?
Trends are showing that the luxury consumer space is growing steadily with every passing year, and so carmakers are doing everything they can to capitalise on it. With SUVs being the hot thing of the moment, we’ve seen brands that wouldn’t previously sully their standing with a ‘utility vehicle’ of any kind warm up to the idea, with Bentley’s Bentayga and the Lamborghini Urus coming immediately to mind. Established players like Range Rover continue to sell well year-on-year, despite the emergence of new players, which means there’s plenty of room for another to muscle in on the territory.
Well, we say ‘new player,’ but actually Mercedes-Benz has been making a large SUV under the ‘GL’ moniker, and more recently the ‘GLS’ badge, for some time now. With an all-new third-generation model almost upon us, it’s been detailed that Mercedes-Benz is keen on pushing the envelope a bit with the new car, fielding a Maybach-fettled variant that will debut either alongside or not long after the ‘proletariat-spec’ GLS.
Sources speaking to Autocar had quite a bit to say about the matter:
“We have been quietly surprised by the sales success of the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, which is proving extremely popular in many key markets. The plan now is to extend the exclusivity surrounding the Maybach name into the upper end of the SUV segment. We’re confident this new model will leave little to be desired in terms of luxury.” — “High-Level” Official, Mercedes-Benz
What’s almost a given is that the Maybach GLS will come with the same 4.0-litre biturbo V8 from the Maybach S560, which put out 345kW and 700Nm. That engine is good enough to propel the Maybach S560 from rest to 100km/h in just 4.9-seconds. The Maybach GLS SUV will likely take longer than that. Further, the limousine claims a fuel consumption figure of just 8.8L/100km, though hitting that figure is perhaps less likely than hitting the moon with a sniper rifle.
There’s also mention in the report that Mercedes-Benz is investigating the possibility of offering a plug-in hybrid drivetrain, namely the one found under the skin of the S560e. In doing so, it would pair a 3.0-litre straight-six mill with an electric motor, complemented by a lithium-ion battery to offer a pure-electric range of about 50km, broadly similar to the electric range being offered by the Bentley Bentayga and Range Rover PHEV.
The Maybach GLS is expected to be shown very soon at the Beijing motor show in April, before debuting in production trim in November at the Los Angeles motor show. Prices are expected to hover around the $200,000 mark when it arrives in 2019, though there’s no telling if we’ll actually be offered one here when the time comes.
For more information on Mercedes-Benz, check out our Showroom.
