Rolls-Royce: Maybach not in the same league
Luxury boss dismisses new flagship: “it’s a nice car, but it’s an S-Classâ€.
Rolls-Royce chief executive Torsten Müller-Ötvös has poured cold water on a new Maybach flagship produced by Mercedes-Benz.
A reborn Maybach debuted at the Los Angeles motor show last week with V12 power, a long-wheelbase and plush interior that separates it from the regular S-Class limousine.
Müller-Ötvös says Rolls-Royce will not lose any customers to the new Maybach.
"It's a stretched S-Class, full stop," he says.
"This is how our customers see it; it's a nice car, but it's an S-Class - a Mercedes.
"It will find its market, but not by cannibalising Rolls-Royce. This is such a different league we are talking about, when you buy a Rolls-Royce you are really part of an exclusive family."
Visiting Australia to open a new dealership on the Gold Coast, Müller-Ötvös says Rolls-Royce is at the top of the food chain with no natural automotive predators.
"In this segment here you are talking to ultra-high net worth individuals, you are talking to people who can afford quite some cars, who have garages like we have wardrobes," he says.
"For that reason, I don't see people who love Rolls-Royce cross shopping an S-Class.
"It's very rare that people say 'should I buy an [Aston Martin] Vanquish or should I buy a [Rolls-Royce] Wraith.
"Forget it, it doesn't happen. If people fall in love with them, they buy both."
The brand boss says customers often buy a Rolls-Royce to celebrate achievements in life, rather than using the car as road transport. As such, the car company must compete with a different tier of luxury goods.
"People buy a Rolls-Royce for certain things in life... you can also do that while buying a precious timepiece of course, or buying a piece of art, or buying jewellery for your wife, or a chalet in the Swiss alps, or buying a helicopter – all that kind of stuff," Müller-Ötvös says.
"It is more where people spend money for luxury purposes, that's the competition for Rolls-Royce. It's not just the car business."