The Vision Maybach Ultimate Luxury Concept Looks…

Mercedes-Maybach has many interesting cars and concepts at the ongoing Beijing Motor Show, including the new A-Class sedan, the ‘Ultimate Luxury’ living room design (a living room, yes), and finally the first ever Maybach SUV in concept form: the Vision Maybach Ultimate Luxury Concept.

If saying that name out loud made you lose your breath, looking at it might make you gasp - maybe not positively. The new Ultimate Luxury Concept sees design themes used on earlier concepts by Maybach, especially the Maybach 6 siblings, on a saloon body on stilts. And that may not appeal to everyone - it certainly didn’t to many at our office.

The large 25-slat grille, sleek three-slot headlamps, large side air intakes and very MINI-esque lower air dam adorn the fascia. There is a lot of chrome everywhere - on the grille, the air dam, the coachline that extends from the headlamps to the taillamps, a chrome line along the top of the body cladding, the centre line which originates from the hood ornament to the rear bootlid and, of course, the unmissable 24-inch turbine blade alloy wheels.

Where the Vision Maybach Ultimate Luxury Concept looks really out of shape is when looked at from the rear. The design style is not new - the SUV-coupe look was first introduced to the world by BMW in the X6 - but Mercedes-Maybach has taken it to another level. Why? This concoction is targeted mainly at Chinese customers who like the smooth lines of a sedan but also like the high-set sitting position of an SUV. A eye-catching detail is the sunroof and the rear windshield being split into two by the chrome line that originates from the hood, a neat little shoutout to luxury cars of yore.

Step inside and the Vision Maybach Ultimate Luxury Concept redeems itself; there’s acres of quilted leather, ebony wood, rose gold and chrome trim and subtle mood lighting. The dual digital screens and steering are reminiscent of modern Mercedes cars like the S-Class, but the rest of the cabin has that minimalistic but rich look to it. The focus is obviously on the rear passengers, with individual seats, a tea-maker in the centre tunnel and faux flowers which match the cabin decor placed in between the passengers.

The blue accents inside the cabin also point to a very important fact: the Vision Maybach Ultimate Luxury Concept is powered by an electric powertrain. It has four motors, each powering one wheel to create a virtual AWD driveline. Combined, these motors develop 748PS of maximum power and draw energy from a 80kWh battery placed on the floor. The car has a claimed range of 500km on a single charge and, if charged with a 350kW charger, can regain 100km of range in just 5 minutes!

The Vision Maybach Ultimate Luxury Concept may not be brought into production as it is, but it certainly opens up the possibility of the company launching its first ever SUV-coupe in the future. We just hope it wouldn’t look as polarising as the concept.

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