Reposted from Automobiles de Luxe.

By Gunnar Heinrich

Alas, poor Maybach, we never really knew you. And since there's nothing come down the pipeline in the near term that will revive the name in the hearts and minds of the super-rich, we may lose the marque back to the ages.

According to Autoblog, Mercedes-Benz is buying back Maybach franchises from Benz dealerships across these United States.

The total number of Maybach dealers will drop from 71 to 42. Without new models, we can probably expect that number to fall to zero in a matter of two years or so.

MBUSA will reimburse dealerships that installed specialized Maybach studios to the tune of $125,000 per. Trouble is, the Benz dealer shelled out $500,000 to accommodate the Maybach setup.

And it's not like any of the franchises made up for it in sales - 164 Maybachs were sold Stateside in 2006. The target was 600.

Why did Maybach fail where Bentley and Rolls-Royce have succeeded?

I'll argue:

1) Maybach was an exorbitantly priced Mercedes in all but name.
2) Maybach was subject to questionable build quality just like the rest of '00s Mercedes-Benz.
3) Maybach was a compromised design; lacking the Phantom's boldness and the Arnage's taste.
4) Maybach was a forgotten name from Weimar Germany.
5) Maybach was undermined by the introduction of the new S-Class.
6) Maybach was.

[Source: Autoblog]