Originally Posted by Roberto

A cheaper Maybach would definitely sell well I think. I'm sure there is no shortage of S class buyers who dream of owning a Maybach ...but just cannot either afford or justify spending that much money for one.

The Maybach was conceived back in the mid 1990's, at the height of the Dot-com boom, DCX envisioned legions of these new millionaires desperate to buy a Maybach ....unfortunately the NASDAQ crashed and by the end of the century, the global economy was slowing down, but even more importantly, the high end of the market has changed.

Luxury SUVs and sports cars are what wealthy people are buying these days -- sales of Ferraris, Porsches, and Lamborghinis have been at record levels ...but there is also a growing market for luxury sedans that sit between the S class and the Maybach -- this is where the Bentley Continental GT and Flying Spur have succeeded so well ...and it is in this market segment that Maybach will do well.

As I said earlier, the world's most affluent people are not the big market for high-end luxury cars anymore, for them, cars are just a means of getting to the airport, to their private jets. Cars like the Maybach and Phantom might also be considered too indiscreet for many of the individuals on Forbes rich list -- a lot of them are intensely private people.