Making its world debut this past week, possibly for the last time, is a new Maybach model, the 2011 Maybach 57 and Maybach 62. Both cars have received subtle facelifts for the 2011 model year and have made their world debut at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show.

Visual changes include a new front bumper and hood, re-styled side mirrors and new rear light clusters. The cars are also about a half inch longer and wider thanks to the new bumper designs and side cladding. Inside, there are crystal styling accents, a 19 inch screen and wireless internet.

Both cars feature a turbocharged 6.0-liter V-12 engine with 542 horsepower on tap, and the only changes for 2011 is slightly lower emissions and fuel consumption ratings.

Also on show in Beijing are the latest 57S and 62S models, both of which develop an additional 18 horsepower over the standard models.

Reports of Maybach’s demise have been coming for almost as long as the brand (in its modern iteration) has been around for, which is now just on eight years. But with no new models in the pipeline, paltry sales figures of less than a third of what its closest rival, Rolls-Royce, enjoys, and less demand for hyper expensive cars all around the globe, these could be the last models launched by Maybach in the foreseeable future.

However, despite the gloom surrounding Maybach, there is some support for the brand from within Daimler. CEO Dieter Zetsche has previously explained that Maybach doesn’t have to return a profit because it shows that Daimler can at least build a car to compete with the best in the business, Rolls-Royce and Bentley. The other positive is that development costs for Maybach were relatively low because both the 57 and 62 models are largely based on the S-Class.

[Maybach]