It seemed like a good idea at the time. Daimler AG (owner of Mercedes-Benz) had decided to revive Maybach, the luxury German sedan famous in the 1920s and ’30s, as a way to compete with Rolls Royce and Bentley. How very late-90s of them! Last year fewer than 200 Maybachs were sold. The good news is the basic model Maybach 57 is now priced at an affordable $375,250.
“Finding a fix for the brand has now become a priority at Daimler, and [chief executive Dieter Zetsche] has said he wants to decide its fate by the end of the year,” reports the Wall Street Journal (content restricted). “One possibility that’s been under discussion for some time, people close to the company say, is a partnership with British sports-car maker Aston Martin, with which it’s collaborated before.”
