Maybach’s days numbered as production ends

Mercedes-Benz has ended production of its Maybach – at least six months earlier than planned.

The German brand had announced in November last year that production of its slow-selling super-luxury saloon would stop in 2013 with the arrival of the new Mercedes S-Class.

However this week it admitted that the last car had come off the line in June.

Maybach was conceived as a rival to Rolls-Royce and Bentley, but never achieved sales to challenge the BMW and VW-owned brands.

The plan was to sell 1,000 a year but according to Auto News Europe, quoting figures from market researchers JATO Dynamics, just 46 Maybachs were sold in Europe last year, compared with 472 Rolls-Royces and 1,774 Bentleys.

The car launched in 2002 as the Maybach 57 – due to its 5735mm length. It had an eye-watering price tag of close to £250,000. The 6170mm-long 62 followed later.

Words by: Andrew Charman