2009 Maybach 62 S Sedan 4d on 2040-cars

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2021 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 is business class without the jet lag

Mercedes-AMG demonstrated how sporty a mammoth SUV can be by unveiling the 2021 GLS 63 S at the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show. Across the Pacific, at the Guangzhou auto show in China, Mercedes-Maybach revealed another GLS variant that puts an unabashed focus on comfort. The 2021 GLS 600 ends years of rumors by finally taking Maybach into the SUV segment. (If you don't count the limited-edition G 650 Landaulet). It's not a standalone model developed from the ground up, and it's in no way related to the electric Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury concept introduced in 2018. It's a second-generation GLS dressed up in a Hugo Boss suit. Stylists spruced up the front end with Maybach's chromed waterfall grille and mesh inserts in the lower part of the bumper. An abundance of chrome trim (including big slabs of it in on the B-pillars) and Maybach emblems on the D-pillars further set the SUV apart from its non-Maybach-badged sibling. Buyers can order a two-tone paint job at an extra cost. 6.8-foot-long running boards automatically extend from under the body about a second after one of the passengers opens a door. Designers took advantage of the cavernous interior to replace the second- and third-row seats with a pair of business class-like chairs that offer heated, ventilated, massaging and reclining functions. Maybach developed the GLS with chauffeur-driven buyers in mind, so the passengers traveling in the back benefit from their own infotainment system with wireless headphones, folding tablets, wireless device chargers, plus heated and cooled cupholders. Alternatively, buyers can order the GLS as a five-seater with a three-person rear bench. The GLS 600 receives the twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter V8 engine that's omnipresent in the Mercedes range. It delivers 550 horsepower from 6,000 to 6,500 rpm and 538 pound-feet of torque between 2,500 and 5,000 rpm in this application, and it spins the four wheels via a nine-speed automatic transmission and 4Matic all-wheel drive. Mercedes pegs its zero-to-60-mph time at 4.8 seconds. The standard 48-volt mild hybrid system briefly gives the GLS 600 an additional 21 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. It also sends the kinetic energy it recuperates to the battery pack while braking or coasting, and powers a technology named E-Active Body Control which scans the road ahead and adjusts the suspension as needed if it detects a pothole, a bump or another obstacle.

Daimler to bring back Maybach name on flagship S-Class?

Daimler's (relatively) brief ten-year romance with the Maybach brand may have drawn to a close, but that doesn't mean the name is lost once again to the annals of history. According to the latest reports coming from Germany, Mercedes-Benz may opt to keep the Maybach name alive on the top-tier version of the S-Class that's moving upmarket to take the place of the departed Maybach 57 and 62.
The flagship S-Class, previously thought to be called the Pullman, is expected to stretch the platform as far as it can go. Whether it's called Maybach or Pullman, it promises to pack as much luxury (if not quite as much clout) as a Rolls-Royce or Bentley, only less Anglo and more Saxon than the routes which its rivals BMW and Volkswagen opted to go in the acquisition and development of their uber-luxury marques.
Just how true these rumors prove to be remains to be seen. It could be all conjecture for what we know at this point. But it certainly doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility. After all, the Maybach marque was always more of a sub-brand of Mercedes than it was its own brand, and its cars were always seen for what they were: luxed-up S-Classes, which is what we're talking about here. And even though Maybach only sold 3,000 cars over its decade of production, Daimler surely spent a huge chunk of change building up the brand, and it would be understandably reluctant to just write it off entirely.

Jay-Z and Kanye go all Mad Max on a Maybach

If you've got money and taste, you might choose a new Bentley or Rolls-Royce. But if you've only got the former, you might be more inclined to go with a Maybach. In fact, as often as Phantoms show up in hip-hop videos, we're pretty sure the only people buying Maybachs are Daimler executives and rap stars.
Case in point, the latest music video from Jay-Z and Kanye West. With plenty of Benjamins between them to burn, the hip-hop mega stars take a new Maybach limousine and shred it up all Mad Max style in the video for "Otis," the single off their latest collaboration Watch the Throne. Follow the jump to see them make their own Landaulet on a budget with a blowtorch while they wax lyrical about their Benz, their other Benz and their other other Benz.