Mercedes-Benz is in the midst of resuscitating its Maybach brand, but with British rivals Rolls-Royce and Bentley planning SUVs, it’s logical to wonder whether Maybach will soon get a truck of its own.
The German carmaker is at least thinking about it, according to one company official.
“There are several options within the Mercedes portfolio,” Wolf Dieter-Kurz, head of Mercedes SUV development, said in a recent interview with Top Gear, “it’s just obviously a question of which one comes first.”
If Mercedes follows the same playbook it used for the recently-unveiled Maybach S600, the SUV would most likely be a posher version of the GL-Class.
This would also allow Mercedes to avoid the styling stress Rolls and Bentley are currently experiencing, as they work to adapt their traditional car styling cues to a completely new type of vehicle.
The S600’s V12 isn’t available in the GL, so the Maybach version might have to make due as a Maybach GL550, with a V8.
A plug-in hybrid version would probably be offered as well. Bentley is expected to offer its Bentayga SUV with a plug, and Mercedes is currently going crazy for plug-in hybrids.
The company plans to launch 10 of these models by 2017, and has already introduced a plug-in hybrid version of the S-Class, which could provide a powertrain for the hypothetical Maybach SUV.
That may sound a bit too sensible for what’s supposed to be a no-limits luxury vehicle, but as with the Maybach S600, any production Maybach SUV would probably be more about interior comfort and amenities than power and performance.
Just imagine the S600 Maybach’s reclining rear seat setup in a vehicle big enough to seat seven in less-luxurious circumstances. This thing would be a living room on wheels.
With the Maybach S600 just going on sale, any official decision on a Maybach SUV seems unlikely in the immediate future.
But with the Rolls and Bentley SUVs set to launch two to three years from now, it wouldn’t be surprising if Mercedes came up with something in the near future.
