What’s The Plan at Mercedes-Maybach?

Mercedes-Maybach recently revealed its latest vehicle, the 2026 SL 680. This is the fourth model in the current lineup of Benz’s ultra-luxury nameplate, and the only convertible. But studying it at the unveiling raised more questions than it answered regarding Maybach’s overall strategy for standing out—from both, the Mercedes models it uses as a canvas and the highest-end competition like Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

Maybach’s iteration of the S-Class features an extended wheelbase that offers immediate visual distinction from its “lesser” sibling. Meanwhile, its versions of the GLS and EQS gas and electric three-row SUVs show their difference mainly on the inside, where the third row is removed, and legroom is given over to first-class captain’s chairs in the second. The Maybachized SL sort of splits the difference, at least with the top down, featuring a spiffy tonneau that covers the rear seats, but otherwise retains the same body shape and profile.

“Exterior differentiation is very important to our customers,” says Michael Schiebe, head of the Mercedes-Maybach, AMG, and G-Class business units. He goes on to list a variety of additional features on this Maybach roadster: subtly revised front and rear fascias, special wheels, more chrome, wildly perforated seat leather, a three-pointed star hood ornament, and, especially, an optional tessellation of Maybach double-M logos tattooed on the hood and roof. But, at a glance, to us, it still looks just like a frilly SL, albeit not quite in the way that a Cadillac Cimarron looked like a tarted-up Chevy Cavalier.

As it turns out, some privileging of the Ür brand may be intentional. “If you look at the cars, you see the standing star on the hood. And then underneath, on the grille, you’ve got the chrome nameplate,” says Daniel Lescow, CEO of Mercedes-Maybach. “That’s how it reads. You read it as: Mercedes. Maybach.” It’s a Mercedes first, and its flashy Maybach distinctions layers glory back onto Benz. This aligns with contemporary nomenclatural trends, which uplift the mother brand.

But given the diversity of means by which Maybach has attempted to distinguish its products, we wondered what, exactly, the core strategy is. “There is, I would say, I don’t want to call it a Bible. But we have an internal rulebook,” Schiebe says.

Our nearest understanding this codification came from Lescow. He told us, of the current lineup, “Each of the four cars has its very own characteristic, while always underlining that it’s a special expression of comfort, calm, and relaxation derived from the main car.”

But if Maybach is supposed to be cushier, at heart, why does this new SL, with its double-bubble rear fairing, look like a sportier Speedster model? We asked if perhaps the inhibition of utility—as with the deletion of the rear row of seats in the Maybach GLS and EQS—yields some ultimate form of serenity to the ultra-rich? We also wondered how this sense of serenity connects to Maybach slathering its monogram on its products like Louis Vuitton or Gucci and opposing stealth wealth trends like Quiet Luxury.

No one had an answer. As best as we could determine, the overall game plan is kind of fluid. Lescow eventually admits that. “What we constantly do is listen to our customers and engage with our stakeholders to understand what they appreciate most,” he says. “And we’ll reflect that in our strategy going forward.”

No small portion of this adaptability, and uncertainty, comes from Maybach’s youth: it’s only been around in its current incarnation for 10 years, a gawky undeveloped tween compared to the middle-aged 34 years AMG has been in the Benz stable. “We are on a journey,” Schiebe says. “So that means if we have done something for the S-Class, then we think, okay, is this something that we can take over for the next car? So, we are evolving with time, and we see that also the customer requirements change.”

Perhaps a more codified structure for the brand’s products will be forthcoming. For example, Schiebe seems certain that Maybach will not offer “lite” versions of its products, as AMG does with its 43 and 53 lines, and with its metastasization throughout the M-B product range. “Don’t do compromises, you will just dilute the brand,” he says of Maybach.

He is also clear that Maybach, as differentiated from AMG, is unlikely to offer models, like the Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe and Four-Door, that lack direct correlates in the Mercedes lineup. However, providing a bit of incidental scoop, he does confirm that AMG-only models will proliferate beyond these two. “I would even give you as the first one with this information, there will be more individual body types of AMG in the future,” he says.

This revelation actually dances us closest to the core issue. Mercedes-Benz is, at heart, a luxury marque. Despite its valiant and valid efforts in motorsport, and in slinging AMG raciness into its vehicles, perhaps Maybach is not as distinctive from the core brand because, in essence, it is just frosting on an already frosted cake.

Schiebe seems to agree. “I think when it comes to Maybach, first of all, we have already, as Mercedes, the perfect base cars in our portfolio,” he says. “So here, I think, we decide on, do we have something in the portfolio as Mercedes—and the Mercedes brand all already comes with safety, reliability, quality; this is what our brand stands for—and then make it just more exclusive.” The task is to add profitability and subtract availability. Why do more, if paint and trim and different taillights can accomplish that?

Before our conversation ends, we ask once more about further differentiation, distinctive models or body styles—a big GT coupe and convertible to fight the Bentley Continental, or a stolid limousine to battle the Rolls-Royce Phantom come to mind. Schiebe demurs. Sort of. “I don’t want to say, no, that we will not do it in the future,” he says. “Maybe. But I don’t want to say and commit to something here at the table.”

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