Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury: the first three-box SUV

In case you thought there was no room left for new SUV formats, here is the Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury, with its three-box bodywork. The prototype is unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show, featuring electric propulsion technology.

If there is a market where a car like the Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury could succeed, it is China. And Mercedes know it, which is why they have chosen the Beijing Motor Show to present the new concept car bearing the Maybach badge. A car that could open up a new category among SUVs, with its three-box body style.

SUV or saloon?

At Mercedes-Maybach they say the Ultimate Luxury combines all the attributes of a high-end luxury saloon with those of an SUV. The reality is that, with this prototype, they are doing nothing more than testing how well a three-box SUV might be accepted in a market where this type of body has great appeal.

With its 5.26 metres in length, 2.11 in width and 1.76 in height, the Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury stands out not only for its shapes. It adopts the chrome-bar grille on a front end inspired by the Mercedes-Maybach 6 coupé presented in 2016, and it also features many traits of the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class. But among its most distinctive elements we single out the rib that runs lengthwise along the entire vehicle, including the roof and the rear window.

The wheels are also spectacular, not only for their turbine-style design but for their size: no less than 24 inches!

A car to enjoy from the rear seats

The interior is an ode to luxury and sophistication. It combines materials such as ebony wood, used in traditional Chinese furniture design, with polished aluminium. The white upholstery is paired with a pink finish on the seat frames and many inserts on the console and doors. The brand says it is a representation of what the interior of future Mercedes-Maybach models will look like.

As a car designed so that whoever takes the wheel is the chauffeur, the truly important seats are the rear ones. The two passengers enjoy individual seats here, with independent adjustments of all kinds for cushion and backrest. It includes the ENERGIZING comfort control debuted on the S-Class, with massage functions, lighting and acoustic ambience, and a holistic infotainment system.

Four electric motors, 750 CV of power

Regardless of whether the three-box SUV body style proposed by the Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury ever reaches production, there is another aspect of this prototype worth keeping in mind as a possible preview of what we will see in future models from the brand.

The luxury SUV proposes a fully electric propulsion system with four motors, one at each wheel, totalling a power output of 550 kW (750 CV). So far nothing truly new, but here comes the good part. The ultra-fast charging system announced by Audi for its new electric SUV, based on the Audi e-tron prototype, would start to look like something from the past.

If the SUV from the brand with the four rings can recharge at high-power stations at up to 150 kW, Mercedes-Maybach claims the Ultimate Luxury is prepared to do so with charging power of up to 350 kW, which would allow recovering 100 km of range in less than 5 minutes of “plugging in”.

Image gallery Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury