Daimler to stop Maybach brand
Daimler will axe its Maybach superluxury brand after years of losses and moribund sales, replacing the car with more expensive models of its Mercedes-Benz S-Class flagship saloon starting in 2013, Reuters reported.
"We held extensive discussions internally about which way would promise the greatest success in the luxury segment, and we came to the conclusion that the sales chances for the Mercedes brand were better than that of Maybach," Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Instead, he plans to extend the number of S-Class derivatives from a current three to six in order to boost the model's volume, possibly even doubling it to 80,000 cars a year.