The Mercedes-Maybach Edition 100 celebrates the brand's centenary

At the end of the 20th century, the auto industry underwent a reorganization in which many big shots swallowed up the little ones, ending the era of independent manufacturers. Germany's BMW and Volkswagen endorsed the two iconic English luxury brands Rolls-Royce and Bentley, respectively.

Daimler-Benz, the fiercely competitive maker of Mercedes-Benz cars, was not going to be left out of the lucrative market for extreme luxury, but with its focus on acquiring Chrysler it decided to take on the competition with a homemade product.

In 1997, Daimler-Benz presented the Maybach Concept at the Tokyo Auto Show. Three years later, the company renamed DaimlerChrysler launched the Maybach 57 and 62, two luxurious competitors based on the fourth generation of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W220), devoid of any detail that associated them with the star brand and intended to compete with the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH or Maybach had been an automobile manufacturer founded in 1909 by Willhelm Maybach, who in turn had been the first technical chief of Daimler AG more than a decade before the merger with Benz & Cie. Maybach was purchased by Daimler in 1960 reduced to its bare minimum, but between 1921 and 1940 the Maybach name had been associated with lavish luxury cars of unprecedented technical excellence, made possible by a successful diesel engine build operation. for airships, trains and airplanes.

Its first model, the Maybach W3, debuted at the 1921 Berlin Motor Show, becoming a great sensation, not only for its luxurious finishes unprecedented 100 years ago, but also for being the first German car with brakes on all four. wheels and its epicyclic gear system.

Back in the 21st century, sales of the Maybach 57 and 62 never came close to the goals set by Daimler, so in 2010 the end of the project was announced, which produced its last unit in December 2012.

But that wasn't the end of Maybach. For its second attempt, Mercedes-Benz rethought its effort in the world of extreme luxury as a sub-brand, this time called Mercedes-Maybach, and decided not to make any effort to hide the fact that its cars are versions of Mercedes models- Benz, although he also decided to spare no effort in making them the most luxurious cars in the world. Currently, Mercedes-Maybach has two models, the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class and the Mercedes-Maybach GLS, which will be joined in the coming years by a version of the EQS electric sedan, a still unnamed electric SUV and other special models.