The future Mercedes-Maybach GLS SUV has been spied on the Nurburgring. The model will be presented in November at the LA Auto Show.
The future SUV developed under the Mercedes-Maybach badge will be based on the architecture of the current Mercedes-Benz GLS, but the Germans are preparing both generous design changes inspired by the lines of the Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury concept and interior improvements.
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.
Sources close to the company say that the future Mercedes-Maybach GLS will take over some of the elements that we have already seen inside the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class. At the same time, the SUV has been designed to provide performance, generous space for rear passengers and increased comfort. Unlike the SUV from which it derives, the future Mercedes-Maybach GLS can be ordered either with four-seats or in a three-seater rear configuration variant.
The same voices mention that the SUV developed by Mercedes-Maybach will have a more generous wheelbase than the one offered by GLS (3,135 mm). As for the engine, the Mercedes-Maybach SUV will propose a 4.0-liter V8 petrol unit coupled to a nine-speed automatic gearbox and, of course, an all-wheel drive system. It is unlikely that Mercedes-Benz will provide the Maybach-GLS with the 630 hp V12 from the S 650 4Matic.
