Mercedes' $1M S-Class Pullman's could make it the most expensive sedan ever
Fri, 27 Jun 2014If insider sources are to be believed, Mercedes-Benz is getting ready to launch the most expensive luxury sedan on the market next year in the form of the S-Class Pullman armored car for $1 million. If it's too flashy for you, then Mercedes is also reviving the Maybach name for an even longer wheelbase variant of the S-Class.
According to company insiders speaking with Bloomberg, the Pullman will be positioned at the ultimate expression of the Mercedes brand and will hark back to the classic S600 Pullman models of the '60s. The driver will sit in a partitioned cabin up front, while wealthy and fortunate passengers will be cosseted in two rows of face-to-face seats in the rear. At a reported 21-feet long, it will be even bigger than a Rolls-Royce Phantom Extended Wheelbase. While the armor probably makes up a few hundred thousand dollars of the price, the cost is still likely going to be significantly more than the old Maybach 62 S at $470,350. Only the one percent of the one percent need apply here.
A slight step down from the Pullman will be the still opulent S-Class Maybach. The reincarnation of the twice-dead brand would ride on an even larger body than the long wheelbase S-Class but still offer four seats. Prices for it are rumored to be double the current S600, which puts it around $300,000 or more. The insider told Bloomberg that the unveiling is planned for November at the LA Auto Show and Guangzhou Motor Show in China.
With four different wheelbase lengths of the S-Class possibly on offer by the end of next year, things could get a bit crowded in the lineup. After the utter failure of Maybach as a brand, critics might suggest it's surprising to see Mercedes putting so much stock in super-expensive luxury sedans. But with the mushrooming number of ultra-wealthy potential clients in markets beyond Europe and North America who are greedily sucking up record numbers of exotics from other automakers, the math doesn't seem so bad after all.
By Chris Bruce
See also: The story of Maybach, Lorde, her hit song Royals and unintended consequences [UPDATE], Daimler bringing resurrected Maybach name to 2014 LA and Guangzhou auto shows, Maybach name to be resurrected for long-wheelbase S-Class.