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Bruce Newton25 Feb 2015
NEWS

Daimler boss backs Maybach SUV

But he makes it clear there will be no Benz-badged rival for Audi's pint-size Q1

Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche has strongly hinted a large luxury SUV will sit atop the new Mercedes-Maybach range but dismissed any prospect of the three-pointed star going any smaller than the GLA to take on the forthcoming Audi Q1 mini crossover.

The prospects for an SUV for the reborn Maybach super-luxury sub-brand based on the GLS -- as the facelifted GL-Class (pictured) will be known -- has been previously reported by motoring.com.au.

A hyper-luxury SUV makes sense considering Volkswagen-owned Bentley will show the Bentayga later this year and before launching it in 2016, while BMW-owned Rolls-Royce has confirmed it is also due to join the SUV party to take on established segment leader Range Rover.

“There is no decision made but it (a luxury SUV) is certainly a possibility,” Zetsche told Australian media at last week’s launch of the Mercedes-AMG C 63 in Portugal. “It’s not a weird idea.”

Zetsche stressed the reliance a Maybach SUV would have on existing Mercedes-Benz SUV architecture, in the same way the freshly launched Maybach S 600 limousine the interior of which is pictured here)is closely based on the latest S-Class.

“It would not be a stand-alone product,” he confirmed. “It would not be like Rolls-Royce -- which I don’t know to which extent it leans on any BMW portfolio elements -- for which it (an SUV) would be a kind of stand-alone.

“That would not be the case for us. If we pursued that it would be related to our existing or next-generation portfolio and therefore would be linked to that cycle which we have on that side.”

That is likely to mean a 2018 debut for a Maybach SUV. Whenever it does arrive, Zetsche made it clear why the luxury SUV boom appeals to him.

“These segments are in general more profitable than the sedan segment so that is why manufacturers are not offended by this kind of development,” he said.

Meanwhile a new mini-SUV has been mooted for Benz because of last year’s G-Code concept. BMW is also being rumoured to move below the X1 with a smaller model.

But so far Audi is the only member of the German prestige and luxury big three to commit, announcing the Q1 will be on sale next year.

But Zetsche said there was no plan for Benz to go below GLA, which is based on the same MFA front/all-wheel drive architecture as the A-, B- and CLA-Class.

 “GLA is a part of our compact car family and going underneath that would mean to go into the A segment or B segment and we are doing that with Smart. We are not considering doing that with Mercedes, no matter with a sedan or two-box vehicle, or an SUV.

“There is no place for an SUV there, so therefore the answer is no.

“We don’t have an A1, we don’t plan for an A1 so therefore we don’t plan for a family in that segment.”

Clearly that reply leaves the way open for Smart to carry the baton against the Q1 for Mercedes-Benz. That potential model is said to have been previewed by the Smart Forstars ‘Sports Utility Coupe’ concept first shown at the Paris show in 2012.

It also leaves open the possibility of spinning more SUV-style offerings alongside the GLA from the second-generation MFA2 architecture currently being developed. For instance, a GLB baby G-wagen has been mooted for 2019 production.

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