Mercedes-Benz prices Maybach GLS600 from $358,300

THE flagship of all Mercedes-Benz SUVs is now only a few months away from arriving Down Under with the German marque this week revealing the local pricing for its new Maybach GLS600 4Matic, a $358,300 upper-large SUV designed to take the luxury fight to the Bentley Bentayga and even the Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

Carrying an eye-watering $102,600 price premium over the performance-oriented AMG GLS63 4Matic+, the GLS600 is all about one thing: absolute luxury.

Powered by the same twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 as the rampant AMG – albeit detuned slightly – the GLS600 develops 410kW of power and 730Nm of torque however an extra 16kW/250Nm can be temporarily contributed by a 48-volt mild-hybrid system and integrated starter-alternator.

Whereas the AMG is all about luxury performance, the Maybach’s outputs are dedicated to providing an effortless driving experience, a point hammered home by the standard inclusion of comfort-biased adaptive air suspension.

Despite having nine ratios to cycle through, engineers have tuned the GLS600’s power delivery to be as flat and consistent as possible in the quest for a smooth journey.

As such, the drivetrain has been tuned to reduce the number of gearshifts during take-off, so much so that it actually pulls away from a standstill in second gear.

When the mood does take you however, those monstrous outputs can catapult the almost three-tonne Maybach from 0-100km/h in 4.9 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 250km/h.

Given it is a member of Mercedes’ biggest SUV model line, space is in abundance in the GLS600, something that has long been heralded as a cornerstone of luxury motoring, which is why the standard GLS’ third row seating has been binned in favour of a further set-back second row.

According to Mercedes-Maybach product director Martin Hulder, one of the other key pieces to the luxury puzzle is ride height.

“The raised position in an SUV gives the occupants a different perspective of the surroundings, and many Mercedes-Maybach customers greatly appreciate this,” he said.

“Incidentally, a raised seating position is nothing new in the luxury segment: the grand luxury saloons of the 1930s, such as the Maybach Zeppelin, had a similar seating height for the driver and passengers, and very similar proportions.”

Being the absolute brand flagship – along with the upcoming Maybach S-Class – there is almost too much standard equipment included on the GLS600 to list, however some of the highlights include Nappa leather upholstery, a sliding/tilting panoramic sunroof with roller blind, climatised massage seats, dual 12.3-inch digital screens (infotainment/digital instrument cluster), 1590W Burmester 3D surround-sound system, a sophisticated air-conditioning system that can measure the interior and exterior temperatures, angle of the sun and air humidity as well as the inevitable wealth of high-end sound-proofing measures.

While the pricing has been announced now, the first examples of the Maybach GLS600 are not expected to arrive Down Under until August.

Mercedes-Benz Australia Pacific has sold 95 examples of the current-generation GLS so far this year ending February, accounting for 15.8 per cent of the $100,000+ upper-large SUV segment.

2021 Mercedes-Benz GLS pricing*

*Excludes on-road costs