After years of worldwide renown and exclu­sivity, the Mercedes Benz ultra luxury line, May­bach was discontinued due to a lack of market and not turning a single penny of profit since it was revived in 2002. In the mainstream of luxury cars offered by some of the most revered brands around the world, we can split the pot into a multitude of categories mostly falling under Limousine, Executive, and Sports. We are going to forego the sports sector as that is a completely differ­ent beast to cover. However, we find that the intersection between the limousine and execu­tive sectors includes among the most iconic cars in history. The main contenders can be seen as Audi, Bentley, BMW, Jaguar, Maybach, and Mercedes Benz, all of which have a special, ex­clusive line of elite cars. The most notable series from each company include: Rolls Royce by BMW, XJ by Jaguar, the A8 by Audi, the S-Class by Mercedes Benz, and, of course, Maybach by Mercedes Benz -- all of which have their perks and attractions. The Maybach was different.

It brought a whole new level of “high class” to the playing field. It was a serious contender to the world’s most prestigious names. However, it began on the wrong foot compared to other models in that it was remarkably similar to the Mercedes’s S-class (especially the 57 or the 62). Due to the rise in criti­cism from crit­ics around the globe and lack of significant economical ad­vances, Maybach was forced into bankruptcy and Mercedes retracted from the brand.

Despite the major hit to Mercedes, Maybach is back! Sort of. Stuttgart sources reveal that the badge most recently applied to Daimler’sastro­nomically expensive luxury sedans will appear next later in the year on the next stretch of the Mercedes Benz S-Class to be named as Mer­cedes Maybach. The car will be furnished, as anyone would expect, with a level of indulgence unmatched by anything in the Mercedes Benz lineup. The Mercedes Maybach will sit much higher in the automotive caste system than, say, the­ brand-new S600, and Daimler plans to pit it against Bentley’s Mulsanneand Rolls-Royce’s Phantom. Should the S-class succeed in nicking sales from the Volkswagen Group and BMW, we understand that the Mercedes Maybach could develop into its own sub-brand within Benz, and operate similarly to the Mercedes-AMG.