Maybach to offer $50,000 discounts for dealer demo

[BMWDave]

What a deal! Maybach to offer $50,000 discounts for dealer demos, resort vehicles
DIANA T. KURYLKO | Automotive News
Posted Date: 6/28/05
Mercedes-Benz is giving hotels and resorts a $50,000 discount on its Maybach cars and is offering the same amount to dealers for demos kept for 5,000 miles.

It's a way to drum up business for the luxury sedans, which range in price up to $377,750. Mercedes initially predicted U.S. sales of up to 600 units a year, but sold just 244 last year. Sales through May totaled 64, up from 48 in the first five months of last year.

Build-to-order

Mercedes also expected all Maybachs to be built to order. But two years after launching the brand in the United States, nearly 50 percent of Maybach customers want to buy off the lot, says Wayne Killen, Maybach brand manager.

"If there is one area we may have underestimated, it is the number of people who wanted immediate gratification," says Killen.

Mercedes is offering dealers the $50,000 discount on demonstrator cars because some dealers who sold their demos to customers didn't reorder a new one quickly.

Usually, Mercedes-Benz requires demonstrator cars to have between 800 to 1,000 miles on the odometer before a dealer can collect an allowance and sell the car, says a Mercedes spokeswoman.

Killen says the new 5,000 mileage requirement for the Maybach demo incentive will encourage dealers to drive the cars to events and show them to prospective buyers.

The hotel deal was launched after the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas asked for a deal on five Maybachs, says Killen. At the MGM Grand, a Maybach and a driver will be made available to high rollers staying in high-priced rooms, says Thomas Zumbo of Fletcher Jones Imports in Las Vegas, which sold the cars to the MGM.

Maybach allows all of its 70 dealers to offer discounts to hotels and resorts, says Killen.

"Dealers are aware of this program, and I expect them to look at opportunities in their local market," he says. "It is great branding value that some of these hotels will bring to us."

The short-wheelbase Maybach 57 sells for $327,250, including shipping. The larger Maybach 62 costs $377,750. Rival Rolls-Royce doesn't offer similar discounts in North America.

2-car requirement

"Our dealers are required to have two cars, one for the showroom and the other as a demo," says James Selwa, outgoing president of Rolls-Royce Motors Cars North America LLC.

The only discount Rolls-Royce offers is a $15,000 loyalty rebate for previous owners when they purchase a new vehicle, says Selwa. Hotels pay full price, he says.

Killen won't say how many Maybachs he expects to sell this year. But he says Maybach sales aren't slow.

"I am not sure we overestimated the market," he says. "It is a task for us to build a brand."

[R33 GT-R]

Guess they have a little bit of markup to work with.  

[BMWDave]

Guess they have a little bit of markup to work with.

They sure do!

[Raza]

High end models have the highest markups, generally.

[Secret Chimp]

Of course there's a markup that they can cut into easily; the Maybach is essentially a really built-up S-class.

[R33 GT-R]

Plus if your a salesman and you only sell a few a year you'll starve without it.

[CaseyNPham]

I just came home from a 2 1/2 stay at Mandalay Bay and on the road, I spotted a Classy Non Pearlescent White Maybach 62!

I didn't get a good look and I didn't really notice how long it was but D@MN did I notice it. I also saw my (sadly) first Maserati! A Gransport. Unfortunately, it was in the Wynn Hotel's Ferarri Showroom. Those f*ckers had and F430 but no Quattroporte! Must sue!

[Raghavan]

wow. $50K! i can buy a lotus elise and have lots of money left over!

[R33 GT-R]

I hear you Rag.