Daimler no longer wants to produce its luxury brand Maybach for some time. For many fans of the Maybach brand, this decision came like a bolt from the blue. Now the British luxury brand Bentley jumps into the throes and tries to win Maybach owners over to their side with a clever marketing move.
"The withdrawal of Maybach represents enormous business potential for us," Wolfang Dürheimer, CEO of Bentley, recently told the Reuters press service in Detroit. "Owners of a Maybach felt let down by Daimler," says Wolfgang Dürheimer.
Bentley writes to Maybach owners
In addition to King Juan Carlos of Spain, stars from the show industry such as Samuel L. Jackson, oil magnates such as Roman Abramovich, the Sulton of Brunei, and possibly you too will soon be receiving mail from Bentley.
Maybach owners value the image and exclusivity of their brand and flirt with an equivalent replacement, but less so with a Mercedes. And here probably only brands like Rolls-Royce or Bentley come into consideration, according to the opinions of analysts. Even the Rolls-Royce Phantom with an aluminum body is cheaper than the “cheapest” Maybach Type 57. The Bentley Mulsane, for example, is equipped with a 2.200 watt sound system, heated steering wheel, large screen and iPads integrated into the rear seats. Certainly all possible options for switching to other brands.
VIP tours in crew
In any case, Wolfang Dürheimer is already inviting Maybach customers to VIP tours of the Bentley production facility in Crew in England. "We want to create a separate area in our brand for former Maybach customers." Daimler, on the other hand, does not want to comment further on Bentley's initiative. Despite the discontinuation of Maybach production, they want to continue to offer service and spare parts for vehicles that have been delivered.
According to a spokesman, Rolls-Royce is also happy about every Maybach owner. But a proverbial hunt and search for them wouldn't be the Rolls-Royce way.
Around 2011 Maybach brand vehicles were delivered in 200. Bentley was able to deliver 7.003 noble Brits in the same period. Rolls-Royce sales increased 31 percent to 3.538 vehicles sold.
But Bentley doesn't just want to attract Maybach customers. In 2015, Bentley wants one Bentley SUV appeal to its target group. This should then luxuriously overshadow the Porsche Cayenne as a competitor vehicle.