Mercedes-Benz is adding an opulent version to the line-up of its largest SUV this year. The Mercedes-Maybach GLS loses almost all the camouflage in the latest spy pictures published by Carscoops.
Mercedes dealers are still waiting for a fresh GLA, a new generation of the smallest crossover from Mercedes-Benz. The place on the exact other side of the spectrum was filled in April this year by a completely new generation of the GLS, the full-size 7-seater SUV that this year will receive an extra luxurious Mercedes-Maybach version.
The top variant of the GLS family can now be admired on these latest espionage photos practically without camouflage stickers. The effects of the Maybach design treatment are especially visible at the front. The GLS gets the characteristic Maybach grille with chromed vertical bars. One floor below, the Mercedes-Maybach department prepares a bumper that, with its smaller cooling openings, appears less ‘sporty’ than that of the regular GLS. Changes at the rear seem less radical, as the GLS is, apart from the exhaust end pieces, identical to the ‘standard’ GLS models.
With the Maybach version of the GLS, Mercedes-Benz is aiming its arrows at a corner of the motoring market that is increasingly populated: that of the extra luxurious SUVs. Land Rover has been operating in that segment for some time with the Range Rover SV Autobiography, Bentley has the Bentayga and Rolls-Royce the all-surpassing Cullinan. Regarding the latter, the future Mercedes-Maybach GLS will not be a direct competitor, but Land Rover in particular must be concerned about the newcomer.
In the best British traditions, the rear passengers in the Mercedes-Maybach GLS are spoiled with butter-soft captain seats and a collection of comfort-enhancing items that you can only dream of as a normal mortal. The presence of a third row of seats is not certain with the Mercedes-Maybach GLS expected to feature only four of five seats.
On the engine list we expect, among other things, the 469 hp V8 that is also available in the Mercedes-Maybach S 560. It is unlikely that Mercedes-Benz will provide the Maybach-GLS with the 630 hp V12 from the S 650 4Matic, because Daimler is slowly but surely saying goodbye to the twelve-cylinder engine.
