The world changed last night in Guangzhou. Not only does the world have a new player in the luxury SUV market, it won’t be built in Germany. The Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 is their first SUV, and each example will be assembled in Birmingham, Alabama.
Much like their competitors at BMW, the U.S.-built models seem to have better paint and build-quality than their domestic builds. Much of what you need to know was unveiled in the Mercedes-AMG GLS 63 that we covered yesterday.
As expected, the Mercedes-Maybach GLS will arrive with nicer leather and more power, but the beauty is in the details. The air suspension shares almost no parts with lesser models, and it lowers slightly when the doors are open.
The powered running boards are fabricated of anodized aluminum and feature LED illumination. The same 48-volt hybrid system found on the other GLS models will be coupled to a handbuilt Maybach V8. The 4-liter is rated at 558 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque.
Sadly, this is also the first Maybach without a provision for their legendary V12. Mercedes-AMG and Maybach have quietly dropped it from all production cars, except one remaining customer: Horacio Pagani. Tell us what you think of the latest Mercedes-Maybach in the comments below and stay with us for all your SUV news.
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