Now this car has presence, an old Maybach from the 1930's. Maybach used to be a proud old German luxury car maker in the '20's and '30's (actually started in 1909). Their cars were opulent and looked important, along with costing a ton. The Second World War happened and many companies didn't resume production, Maybach was one of them. Mercedes bought the name in 1960.
Along came the new "German" Bentley and Rolls Royce in the early 2000's, companies owned by VW and BMW respectively. They had great designs and looked every inch the part of great luxury cars. Mercedes on the other didn't have an ultra luxury brand, so the old Maybach name was dusted off and put on an extremely costly, but nothing special new model.
You can see there's certainly nothing special about the look of this model, but the cost was around half a million! Even a fancy landaulet (see below) couldn't get this thing's sales moving. Interesting fact......Puff Daddy (Sean Combs) gave one to his son for his 16th birthday gift - money well spent?
Well it was just announced last week that Mercedes is dropping the brand after 2012. Annual sales had settled in around 200 compared to Rolls at about 2500. There has been lots written about the fact that this car was too close in design and interior features to the Benz S550. That may be so, but my opinion is that the design was nowhere - no charisma, no presence. Compare the silver car above to this Rolls......Now even if you didn't know a thing about cars, I believe upon seeing the Rolls, you'd know you were in the presence of automotive royalty. If you're spending huge amounts on your wheels, most of us want everyone else to know it (except maybe those 200 Maybach buyers).
Another questionable business decision gone wrong.
Until next time........
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