Typically when customers prove again and again that they don't want something (i.e. Maybach ultra-premium sedans), you drop prices to try to attract business.
But Daimler is moving the opposite direction in increasing the prices across its flailing Maybach line. The increases aren't particularly drastic--about one percent--but considering that this batch of Maybachs may very well be one of the last batches that we ever see, it's somewhat surprising that the prices are going up.
Buyers aren't exactly camping outside of Maybach dealers for their chance to buy.
The 2012 Maybach 57 starts at $379,050 (up from a 2011 price of $375,250), the 57 S starts at $418,950 (up from $414,750), the 62 starts at $430,450 (up from $426,250) and the 62 S costs $470,350 (up from $465,750). The only model to keep 2011 pricing is the $1.38 million Landaulet. All prices are before a $2,750 destination charge.
We suppose a one percent increase isn't going to be much of a deterrent for someone willing to spend $400,000 on a car, but it isn't going to make Daimler much money either. The company sold just 157 cars in 2010, so if we assume that 200 customers buy Maybachs next year with an average increase around $4,500, Maybach will make $900,000 more than it would have. This means if even three potential customers make a detour into the showrooms of much more successful competitors like Bentley or Rolls Royce, Maybach loses revenue on the deal.
Unless Daimler has some sort of miracle marketing scheme planned, the price increase won't matter all that much in the long run, though. Maybach has long been teetering just below the guillotine and recent reports suggest Maybach isn't long for this world.
Daimler is expected to dump the brand by 2013 and replace it with a 'Pullman' extended version of the next-generation 2013 Mercedes-Benz S-Class. And, given Mercedes' much stronger global branding, we'd think that Daimler would have better results going that route.
