Maybach as it was known, a luxury standalone brand designed to compete with Rolls Royce and Bentley, is dead. It began life in 1909, and during WWII Maybach produced tank engines for the Nazi war machine. When Germany was defeated Maybach production never restarted. Daimler Benz purchased the surviving assets, in the 1960s, and built a handful of limited edition models bearing the Maybach stamp, and then it just kind of went quiet. By 1997 the Maybach brand was resurrected with actual sales beginning in 2002. Fast forward to 2014 and Maybach was dead again, during its second resurrection Maybach sold 3,000 cars… between 2002 and 2014. The problem with the Maybach was that it was actually based on a lengthened S Class chassis and it borrowed interior trim and parts from the then A-Class. Hardly appealing to ultra-high net worth individuals. Meanwhile, Rolls Royce, now under German occupation, developed the Phantom and it was so superior that the term “ultra-luxury” ushered into existence. By comparison, the £200k Maybach looked cheap and sales went into a downward spiral. Maybach revisionist conspiracy theorists and fake news people blame the financial crisis of 2008, but Rolls Royce and Bentley survived this period, nevertheless Mercedes had convenient cover to end it’s loss-making entity. By 2015 the Maybach brand had been absorbed into Mercedes, relegated to sub-brand status to sit above the S Class, an example of badge engineering supplemented by an extensive use of persuasive marketing and advertising to make you think otherwise. Why would you want a Maybach when you can get a Rolls Royce and or Bentley, both of which are infinitely better and way more exclusive. Mercedes simple will not surrender on this point and the temptation to earn more sales and feed the shareholder base is still an omnipotent driving force. So this is where the Mercedes Maybach Vision Ultimate Luxury Concept comes into view. It’s an all-electric crossover SUV designed to take on… you guessed it, Rolls Royce and Bentley. It looks like a sedan, but golly-gee, it has the driving position of an SUV. The Maybach Vision rides on 24-inch alloy wheels and is based on a lengthened  GLS platform. The all-wheel-drive Vision Luxury is powered by four electric motors located at each wheel and the total system output is said to be 750bhp. Mercedes reckon the 80kWh battery is good for 500km of driving range, that’s 310 miles in real money. It can recharge 100 miles of range in just 5 minutes, so says, Mercedes. But as with all luxury cars the real luxury is on the inside. As you would expect it is an all wood, metal trim and Nappa leather-clad interior, we’re not too sure about the wide-angle digital display, it looks as though it has been super glued on. Mind you why would you begin to think of drinking tea in a car. Mercedes think people might do so. Any ultra-luxury car isn’t merely defined by its power or the ultra-ultra-luxury interior, ride quality has to be part of the equation. The current Mercedes S Class, as good as it is, cannot even dream to match the Phantoms or the Mulsannes of this ultra-luxury market. In its prime, the Maybach was never able to match either Rolls Royce or the Bentley, so is the Mercedes Vision Luxury Concept just another attempt to resurrect Maybach as a standalone brand? Or will it be a cleverly re-skinned and re-marketed S Class 2.0.1? The shareholders might get excited but we reckon if the Maybach brand is resurrected, again, even Jesus will be looking down, sighing and face-palming in disbelief.