There is growing speculation in Europe that Daimler could become a target for a takeover.
Sources close to Daimler management told the Financial Times that company executives indeed are very concerned about a possible takeover because of several recent events. The article cites the following as factors that are intensifying concern over a possible Daimler takeover:
• the "audacious" move by Schaeffler, the privately owned maker of ball bearings and car parts, to take over its larger rival Continental. Potential Daimler suitors could come from emerging markets - or even Daimler's home turf;
• Daimler's warning last month on likely lower future profits;
• Daimler shares prices that are down by more than 45 percent in the past 12 months, reducing its market value to the equivalent of $59 billion;
• the collpase in value across the entire auto industry and the industry's "grim outlook" that has put the worth of the world's still largest automaker, General Motors, at barely $6 billion;
• the lack of "an anchor investor" to ward off unwanted suitors as BMW has with the Quandt family as controlling shareholders. Daimler's only large shareholder is the Emirate of Kuwait, with a stake of 7.6 percent as of the end of April. The rest of its stock is free float, split between institutional and private investors. A new investor might be lured to strip Daimler of its 8.8 billion euros of net liquidity or urge it to split off the truck division, as some of its minority shareholders have long demanded, the paper noted.
Paging Jay Leno! Darth Vader's ride is up for grabs!
The Maybach Exelero was created as a rolling test bed for Fulda Tires, to test the outer reaches of production tire capability. At one point it was wearing huge 23in 315/25 rubber. Top speed of this car is 218.38 mph. So Jay (or anyone), if interested, catch this exclusive sale before some über-rich oil sheik does.
Maybach's sustainability as a brand is much in doubt. Last year they sold only 146 units worldwide, which is only 10% of what was expected. This is especially grim news when you consider the record amount of Rolls-Royces being sold. Besides the ultra-limited-edition Landaulet, there are no other new models scheduled for introduction...
Or so the saying goes; Maybach, an automaker arguably on the ropes, is pulling out all the stops as they've given a production okay for the Landaulet. A concept study was recently shown at the Detroit auto show.
Despite having an official presence in Australia, not one Aussie opted for this luxury road yacht. That's right, not one new Maybach was sold in Australia during 2007. Amazing—and especially amazing considering Rolls-Royce has a long backlog of orders with their competing Phantom, with 17 sold in Australia last year. No, not a huge number but considering the MSRP and the population of Oz, not bad I'd say...
There have been rumors of a possible Maybach Landaulet for some time, and now some images and info have made their way up to the Net. The "design study" (uh... "concept") is reportedly going to be shown at the upcoming Dubai Motor Show. It's based on the long-wheelbase Maybach 62...
Latest figures from the Roller dudes show that quarterly sales are 22% ahead of 2006 sales, and the new Phantom Drophead Coupe is backlogged until the end of 2008. The sedan is sold out until at least the second quarter of next year.
Word is out that Maybach is cutting 29 US dealers from their total of 71. There have been rumors for some time that Mercedes-Benz would be doing something drastic with the Maybach brand, as sales are nowhere near where they had hoped they would be. Many feel that the Maybach is nothing more than an über-Mercedes, but with an über-über price tag.
So is this the beginning of the end for Maybach?..
The Maybach brand is not preforming up to Mercedes-Benz sales expectations. In fact there's concern that the Maybach brand may actually be hurting MB dealers. Each Mercedes dealer that sells Maybachs had to invest over $500,000 to prepare their dealership to handle the new brand, and many of these dealers are not getting their investment back in terms of sales.
500 Maybach sales per year had been projected, but actual sales have been only 778 cars since it debuted...
I can remember pretty clearly the impact that the 1963 Grosser Mercedes 600, and the LWB Pullman version had back in their day, and was thinking how the new 2006 Mercedes, er, Maybach, relates to those older models. Those early cars were knockouts, and very much fit for heads of state and/or captains of industry, as is the case with the new Maybachs.
If you make the comparison with the current Maybach, the short-wheelbase(?) Grosser Mercedes 600 would be the equivalent of the Maybach 57, and the long-wheelbase Grosser Mercedes 600 Pullman would be the equivalent of the Maybach 62.
The "pointless exercise in paint" award goes to the Maybach 57S. Typically available in black or silver only, this 57S was requested in a special shade of Antiqua White by a particular customer. Applied in two different layers, the unique shade has a pearl effect which gives the car various shades of color depending on the light. Placed in a glass case like a piece of fine jewelry, it was hard to see what it looked like up close, but from far away it just like any other Maybach, which is tso say not that great...
Is this going to be the next "big thing?" Reclining rear seats with foot rests? It first showed up on the mega-buck Maybach 62 limo. At the Detroit car show the upcoming Lexus LS460 had this feature, and here it is on a JDM-spec Mazda MPV.
I bet it won't be long before we see this on US-spec minivans or SUVs...
