Late last year, Mercedes-Benz brought back the Maybach brand name, announcing the Mercedes-Maybach S600, but aside from premium limousines, the luxury brand is reportedly planning a SUV to go up against the upcoming Bentley Bentayga and the Maserati Levante.
Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche didn’t outright say that Maybach will be building a new SUV – he merely said that this was “most likely.” But if that comes to pass, the brand’s SUV will be joining the aforementioned Levante and Bentayga, as well as other similar vehicles such as the pioneering Porsche Cayenne luxury SUV. Further, Rolls-Royce is also planning its own premium sports utility vehicle, possibly sharing a platform with the BMW X7, while Lamborghini’s recently-announced Urus is set to go into production sometime in 2017 at the earliest.
The Maybach SUV will definitely slot above the Mercedes G-Class, a vehicle that costs an already-expensive $115,000. Mercedes’ GL-Class may form the basis for Maybach’s SUV, but as of the moment it’s not sure when the brand plans to manufacture such a vehicle, basing on Zetsche’s cagey answers. Still, he did leave open that possibility, so it won’t be a shock if Maybach or parent company Daimler make an announcement in the coming months.