Mercedes Plans to Produce Ultra Luxury Mercedes-Maybach GLS in the United States

Photo Credit: Auto Zeitung 

Mercedes-Benz recently announced plans to produce the Mercedes-Maybach GLS from the company’s plant in Vance, Alabama.

Described as an ultra-luxury SUV, there is good reason to believe this latest edition to the Maybach line will be based around the Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury which originally debuted as a concept at the 2018 Beijing Auto Show.

The Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury was conceived as an electric vehicle with four compact permanent-magnet synchronous motors and fully variable all-wheel drive. “The Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury is a totally new archetype of a kind never seen before,” said Gorden Wagener, Chief Design Officer at Daimler AG.

“Our concept combines the DNA of an SUV with that of a saloon to produce an ultra-modern SUV of three-box design,” said Wagener. “With sensuality and pure sophistication, we have created a timeless vehicle that underscores the position of Mercedes-Maybach as the ultimate luxury brand.”

The first SUV to produced with the Maybach name, the forthcoming car will be built on the all-new third generation GLS platform and is expected to be the most expensive passenger vehicle produced in the United States. Industry analysts predict the car will be priced in excess of $200,000.

A unibody Mercedes-Maybach GLS is expected to be powered by a 560-plus hp V-8 engine. The ultra-luxury SUV is likely to make its worldwide debut in China later this year with plans to go on sale internationally in 2020.

Mercedes has plans to introduce the Maybach name across a range of different models in a similar fashion to what it has achieved with its high performance brand AMG.

Mercedes hopes to introduce the Maybach brand across different models, just as it has done with its AMG performance brand.

Mercedes’ choice to produce an ultra-luxury SUV signals the continuation of a trend which has seen all of the world’s most high end automakers jockey to capitalize on a market which is expected to grow from 7,500 vehicles internationally in 2018 to over 20,000 by 2023 according to market research conducted by Auto Forecast Research.

Ferrari, Porsche, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Lamborghini have all announced or released high end SUVs in 2019. With price tags equivalent to what is typically spent on first-time home purchases, this market is expected to grow thanks to an ever expanding set of millennial buyers based in North America, Europe and Asia.

Luxury SUVs have become one of the most dominant trends in the automotive industry. Successes from companies like Porsche which had its most successful year of all time thanks not to the sales of its iconic sporty coupes but carried by the sales of its Taycan, Cayenne and Panamera SUVs.

Mercedes is betting that a Maybach SUV will help to reinvigorate the brand which has often been associated with a much older demographic at the upper reaches of the high end luxury market.

Many top of the line SUVs such as the $165,000 Bentley Bentayga are built on to make these cars tremendously profitable for automakers. platforms belonging to less expensive cars such as the $53,000 Audi Q7. This helps

SUVs are one on of the best ways for automotive manufacturers to raise the funds necessary to promote the research and development activities required to continue the legacy of innovation which has been so central to brands like Mercedes and Porsche.

German Innovation, American Made

Mercedes decision to produce the ultra luxury Maybach GLS is a strong indication of the trust the German automaker has placed in its American division. With a history of producing cars in the United States since 1997, Mercede’s presence in the U.S. has grown considerably in recent years with extremely important production facilities in Vance, Alabama and Portland, Oregon emerging as centers of innovation.

The Vance, Alabama plant known as Mercedes-Benz U.S.A. International is the site where the company will produce the new Maybach as well as the latest generation of the GLS. The company is in the middle of a $1 Billion dollar upgrade to ensure its Alabama production capabilities are among the best in the world.

In Portland, Oregon, Mercedes is working on its range of fleet transport vehicles with an emphasis on research and development of autonomous driving technology.

The Alabama production facility is slated to receive a new battery plant, up to twice the size of the original automotive production facility and will begin production of EQ series electric vehicles in the early 2020s.

Spanning more than 6 million square feet, Vance is now Mercedes global production hub for the GLS, GLE, and GLE Coupe. With a capacity to produce more than 300,000 vehicles per year, this makes this the second largest vehicle export production hub in the U.S. More than two thirds of all cars produced in Vance are shipped outside the United States.

The Maybach GLS, with an extended, lounge like rear cabin is primarily aimed at a Chinese market which prefers to be driven rather than steer. Chinese consumers purchased more than two thirds of all Maybach’s purchased last year.

Introducing Ultra Luxury SUVs

Though full production details have yet to be released, it seems very likely that the Maybach GLS could be based around the Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury Concept which was unveiled in Beijing last year. That car featured ultra luxurious interior materials such as ebony, white nappa leather and rose-gold diamond stitching.

The Maybach name has a heritage that stretches way back to the 1930’s when it was first debuted. Revived by Mercedes in the 1990s as a standalone ultra premium brand which shared some parts with normal production Mercedes-Benz cars, Maybach had mixed success. Some buyers loved the brand though overall it struggled to compete against companies known for producing higher end exotic cars.

Some automotive analysts are hesitant to suggest the world truly needs a $300,000 SUV but despite this trepidation, it seems luxury car manufacturers want to go in this direction.

Bentley kicked off this race when they released the Bentayga SUV in 2017. Last year, Lamborghini unveiled the $200,000 Urus and Rolls Royce came out with the $325,000 Cullinan.

In 2019, Aston Martin will begin shipping its high end DBX SUV. It is anticipated to take until 2022 for Ferrari to launch its Purosangue. Bugatti has also announced that is hopes to jump into this field and release its own ultra premium SUV.

Source: Automotive News