Maybach Range Discontinued For 2013

The passing of the ultra-prestige Maybach brand is now as close to official as we are likely to get.

While an announcement has not been made, a new Daimler price-list released this week lists all five Maybach models as "discontinued".

The release follows reports last year that the brand would soon be shuttered, after last-ditch partnership talks with Aston Martin stalled.

In November, German paper Fankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche had confirmed that the need for an ultra-luxury marque had passed, pointing to the upcoming S-Class as the ideal replacement.

"It would not make sense to develop a successor model”, the paper quoted Zetsche in an interview. "The coming S-Class is in such a way a superior vehicle that it can replace the Maybach."

Customers drawn to the exclusivity of the Maybach brand must now 'make do' with the top-shelf Mercedes-Benz S-Class, or consider a move to Maybach rivals Rolls-Royce or Bentley.

An exodus to either brand would hardly see sales skyrocket, however: Just 157 Maybach cars were sold in 2010, compared to a record 2711 sales for Rolls-Royce.

To compete, Mercedes will reportedly offer the new S-Class in more variants than ever before, including a super-long version of about six metres - a huge 800mm beyond the current long-wheelbase offering.

If that's not enough, a 6.8 metre "Pullman" version will face off against the longest offering in the Rolls-Royce Phantom range, which measures 6091mm.

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