MAYBACH
Maybach est un constructeur automobile fondé par Wilhelm Maybach, spécialisé dans les voitures de luxe, comme les Maybach-Zeppelin DS7 et DS8 produites entre 1928 et 1934.
Histoire
Les débuts
Wilhelm Maybach (9 août 1846 - 20 décembre 1929) travailla longtemps avec Gottlieb Daimler et participa au développement de tous les premiers moteurs Daimler jusqu'au 70 ch de 1906. Après un différend avec Daimler, il s'associe en 1907 avec Ferdinand von Zeppelin pour développer des moteurs de dirigeables. Tous les dirigeables Zeppelin (jusqu'au Graf von Zeppelin) seront équipés en exclusivité de moteurs Maybach. Disponible en 1915, la série CX à 6 cylindres de 22 litres de cylindrée développe 210 ch (à 1300 tr/min). Près de 2000 moteurs sont construits durant la Première Guerre mondiale. Ils étaient renommés pour leur endurance qui atteignait 40 heures, un record pour l'époque ! Le plus perfectionné, le MBIVa, fournissait 260 ch et disposait d'un carburateur réglable suivant l'altitude, lui permettant de maintenir sa puissance jusqu'à 1 800 m.
Entre les deux guerres
Le traité de Versailles interdit à la République de Weimar, l'Allemagne d'après-guerre, la fabrication de dirigeables. Maybach se tourne vers l'automobile, sous la dénomination de Maybach Motorenbau et présente son premier modèle W1 dès 1921, puis la W3 à moteur 6 cylindres (1922), toutes fabriquées à Friedrichshafen près du lac de Constance. Rapidement, la marque monte en gamme avec la W5, puis en 1928 sont lancés les premiers modèles de très grand luxe Zeppelin, avec moteur V12. Son fils Karl qui le secondait depuis plusieurs années reprend le flambeau à sa mort en 1929. Il lance des modèles 6 cylindres de la série SW en 1936. La production se poursuit jusqu'en 1941 pour atteindre 1 800 exemplaires au total (dont près de 200 "Zeppelin").
La Seconde Guerre mondiale
Durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Maybach était le principal fournisseur de moteurs pour les chars allemands. Ses moteurs, à essence, équipaient les Panzer III (Maybach HL120 TRM principalement), Panzer IV (Maybach HL120 TRM principalement), Elefant (Maybach HL120 TRM), Tigre I, Tigre II Königstiger, Jagdtiger, Panther, Jagdpanther, ces cinq derniers étant équipés du plus puissant moteur de char produit en série durant la guerre, le Maybach HL230 (V12 essence, 23,8 litres, 700 ch). Le Tiger I, dont Maybach fabriquait aussi la boîte de vitesse, reçut également le Maybach HL210 P45. La capitulation en mai 1945 a interrompu la mise au point du Maybach HL234, évolution du HL230 qu'il devait remplacer sur les nouveaux chars, sa puissance devant atteindre 900 ch. Près de 20 ans plus tard, l'entreprise a été rebaptisée MTU Friedrichshafen. La marque ne se relèvera pas de la Seconde Guerre mondiale et tombera dans les marques oubliées du groupe Mercedes-Benz jusqu'en 2002.
La résurrection
Recréée sous le nom Maybach Manufaktur, elle est aujourd'hui la marque de très haut de gamme du groupe. Depuis son rachat, Maybach a développé les modèles 57 et 62 (respectivement 5,7 m et 6,2 m de long), des berlines de grand luxe disponibles également en version sport avec la 57S et 62S depuis 2006. Elles sont basées sur une plate-forme de Mercedes Classe S modifiée et allongée. Maybach a aussi conçu une voiture d'exception nommée Exelero, une « sportive » de 5,89 m et 2,7 t avec 700 chevaux et un couple de 1020 Nm. Elle passe de 0 à 100 km/h en seulement 4,4 s. Cette voiture servait aussi de vitrine technologique aux performances des pneumatiques Exelero dont elle tire le nom et qui sont produits par l'équipementier allemand Fulda. Lors d’essais sur l’anneau de Nardo en Italie, elle a atteint 351,45 km/h, un record du monde pour une limousine chaussée de pneus de série. Avec Rolls Royce et Bentley, Maybach fait aujourd'hui partie de l'élite dans le domaine de véhicules de luxe, certains modèles avoisinant le million de dollars. Cette renaissance est aussi due à l'engouement de certains rappeurs américains, au premier rang desquels on trouve Rick Ross "The Boss", connu pour avoir lancé son label Maybach Music, the hottest label in the game, et avoir enregistré un certain nombre de titres du même nom (notamment le fameux Maybach Music avec Jay-Z). Il peut d'ailleurs aujourd'hui être qualifié d'ambassadeur officieux de la marque, faisant de la Maybach un objet de reconnaissance sociale et de réussite dans le milieu du rap, à en juger par les paroles de la chanson My President is Black de Jay-Z dans laquelle il déclare : « My President is black/ My Maybach too... ». Une Maybach a aussi été utilisée dans le clip Otis. Néanmoins, le groupe Daimler a annoncé fin 2011 la fin de la production des deux modèles existants dans le courant de l'année 2013. Bien que gagnant de l'argent sur chaque voiture produite, le groupe reconnaît ainsi que la marque Maybach n'a pu s'imposer face à Bentley et Rolls-Royce, puisque la production annuelle ne dépassait pas 10 % de l'objectif fixé par le constructeur.
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Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH was a European luxury car manufacturer. The company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son, originally a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH and was itself known as Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH until 1912. Today, the ultra-luxury car brand is owned by Daimler AG and based in Stuttgart. Tognum AG based in Friedrichshafen used to manufacture the commercial Maybach diesel engines under the MTU brand through its subsidiary MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH. Daimler announced in November 2011 that Maybach will cease to be a brand by 2013 and manufactured the last Maybach-vehicle in December 2012. This was due to poor sales having only sold 3,000 cars since their revival in 2002. The decision follows almost a decade of trying to make Maybach a profitable rival to Rolls Royce and Bentley. Maybach was replaced by a new and more luxurious S-Class from the Mercedes brand, which is also owned by Daimler.
1909–1940: Early history
Wilhelm Maybach was technical director of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) until he left in 1907. On 23 March 1909 he founded the new company, Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH (literally "Aircraft Engine Building Company"), with his son Karl Maybach as director. In 1912 they renamed it to Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH ("Maybach Engine Construction Company"). The company originally developed and manufactured diesel and petrol engines for Zeppelins, and then rail cars. Its Maybach Mb.IVa was used in aircraft and airships of World War I. The company first built an experimental car in 1919, introduced as a production model two years later at the Berlin Motor Show. Between 1921 and 1940, the company produced a variety of opulent vehicles, now regarded as classics. The company also continued to build heavy duty diesel engines for marine and rail purposes.
1940–1945 Second World War
During the Second World war, Maybach produced the engines for Nazi Germany's medium and heavy tanks. The engine plant was one of several industries targeted at Friedrichshafen. After WW II the factory performed some repair work, but automotive production was never restarted, and some 20 years later, the company was renamed MTU Friedrichshafen. Daimler-Benz purchased the company in 1960. PostEarly poster with double M logo1960 the company was mainly used to make special editions of Mercedes cars in the W108 and W116 model range which were virtually hand built. These cars however carried the Mercedes badge and serial numbers.
1997–2013 revival
Daimler presented a luxury concept car at the 1997 Tokyo Motorshow. A production model based on it was introduced in two sizes — the Maybach 57 and the Maybach 62, reflecting the lengths of the automobiles in decimetres. In 2005, the 57S was added, powered by a 6.0L V12 bi-turbo engine producing 604 bhp (450 kW) and 737 lb·ft (999 N·m) of torque, and featuring various cosmetic touches. To promote the new Maybach line Mercedes-Benz engaged figures such as Maybach heir Ulrich Schmid-Maybach and golfer Nick Faldo, to serve as brand ambassadors. The base price of a 2009 Maybach 57 was US$344,000; the Maybach 57 S, US$381,000; the Maybach 62, US$394,000; the Maybach 62 S, US$430,000, and the Maybach Landaulet semi-convertible costs just over US$1 million. The Maybach 57 Zeppelin is priced at €406,000 (US$580,000) and the 62 Zeppelin at €473,200 (US$677,000). Initially, Daimler-Chrysler predicted annual sales of 2,000 worldwide with 50% coming from the United States; however, these expectations never materialized. In 2007 Mercedes bought back 29 US dealers, reducing the total from 71 to 42. In 2010, only 157 Maybachs were sold worldwide, compared to 2,711 similarly priced Rolls-Royces. Just 3,000 have been sold worldwide since the marque was revived in 2002.
Cancellation and the end of Maybach
With poor sales expectations and the heavy impact of the 2008 financial crises, Daimler AG undertook a complete review of the Maybach division, approaching Aston Martin to engineer and style the next generation of Maybach models along with the next generation of Lagondas. According to Automotive News, only 44 Maybachs had been sold in the U.S. through October 2011. The line will be replaced by the next-generation of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class due for the 2014 model year, particularly the long wheelbase S-Class Pullman. An executive told a Frankfurt newspaper that Daimler came to the conclusion that the sales chances for the Mercedes brand were better than that of Maybach." According to Fortune Magazine, after missing out on the chance to purchase Rolls-Royce and Bentley when they were up for sale in the 1990s, "Mercedes backpedaled and decided it needed to be in the ultra-luxury business too, but it went after it in a remarkably clumsy way". Fortune stated that the first Maybach models had poor driving dynamics compared to its contemporaries from Rolls-Royce and Bentley, as "Mercedes took an aging S-class chassis and plopped an absurdly elongated body on it...rather than develop a new car from the wheels up, as BMW did with Rolls-Royce, or cleverly use the underpinnings of an existing model like the Volkswagen Phaeton for a new Bentley". Furthermore, Maybachs were never advertised as owner-driven vehicles, as the company believed that the luxury amenities would be sufficient to sell and they even insisted that auto journalists (who usually test drive the vehicle) ride in the backseat. Another suggestion for Maybach's struggles was that parent Daimler had failed to differentiate it from its Mercedes-Benz brand. While all three ultra-luxury marques share platforms and engines with other luxury brands from their parent auto company, Maybachs are built alongside the Mercedes-Benz S-Class flagship sedan, whereas Rolls-Royce and Bentley are assembled in England (separate from the rest of BMW and Volkswagen Group's production plants) and thus are regarded as being more "exclusive". Furthermore the Maybach's pedigree was virtually unknown outside of Germany unlike its British rivals which have long enjoyed renown worldwide; indeed the 2006 Rolls-Royce Phantom's interior evokes memories of a 1930s car while the Maybach 57S's inside makes no reference to its marque's history. In November 2011, Daimler's CEO Dieter Zetsche announced, that the Maybach-brand will cease to exist in 2012, making room for other models of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The Maybach-limousines will still be sold up to the year 2013, but after that, the name "Maybach" would not be used anymore. On August 14, 2012, parent Daimler AG announced the official discontinuation of Maybach by releasing a pricing sheet officially discontinuing the Maybach 57, 57S, 62, 62S and Laundaulet. On December 17, 2012, the last Maybach-vehicle was manufactured in Sindelfingen. The Maybach brand became a staple of popular culture, with its name being almost synonymous for luxury despite the cease of operations. The American rapper Rick Ross made Maybach Music Group the name of his record label, and almost all of his albums have a song named after the car.
Histoire
Les débuts
Wilhelm Maybach (9 août 1846 - 20 décembre 1929) travailla longtemps avec Gottlieb Daimler et participa au développement de tous les premiers moteurs Daimler jusqu'au 70 ch de 1906. Après un différend avec Daimler, il s'associe en 1907 avec Ferdinand von Zeppelin pour développer des moteurs de dirigeables. Tous les dirigeables Zeppelin (jusqu'au Graf von Zeppelin) seront équipés en exclusivité de moteurs Maybach. Disponible en 1915, la série CX à 6 cylindres de 22 litres de cylindrée développe 210 ch (à 1300 tr/min). Près de 2000 moteurs sont construits durant la Première Guerre mondiale. Ils étaient renommés pour leur endurance qui atteignait 40 heures, un record pour l'époque ! Le plus perfectionné, le MBIVa, fournissait 260 ch et disposait d'un carburateur réglable suivant l'altitude, lui permettant de maintenir sa puissance jusqu'à 1 800 m.
Entre les deux guerres
Le traité de Versailles interdit à la République de Weimar, l'Allemagne d'après-guerre, la fabrication de dirigeables. Maybach se tourne vers l'automobile, sous la dénomination de Maybach Motorenbau et présente son premier modèle W1 dès 1921, puis la W3 à moteur 6 cylindres (1922), toutes fabriquées à Friedrichshafen près du lac de Constance. Rapidement, la marque monte en gamme avec la W5, puis en 1928 sont lancés les premiers modèles de très grand luxe Zeppelin, avec moteur V12. Son fils Karl qui le secondait depuis plusieurs années reprend le flambeau à sa mort en 1929. Il lance des modèles 6 cylindres de la série SW en 1936. La production se poursuit jusqu'en 1941 pour atteindre 1 800 exemplaires au total (dont près de 200 "Zeppelin").
La Seconde Guerre mondiale
Durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Maybach était le principal fournisseur de moteurs pour les chars allemands. Ses moteurs, à essence, équipaient les Panzer III (Maybach HL120 TRM principalement), Panzer IV (Maybach HL120 TRM principalement), Elefant (Maybach HL120 TRM), Tigre I, Tigre II Königstiger, Jagdtiger, Panther, Jagdpanther, ces cinq derniers étant équipés du plus puissant moteur de char produit en série durant la guerre, le Maybach HL230 (V12 essence, 23,8 litres, 700 ch). Le Tiger I, dont Maybach fabriquait aussi la boîte de vitesse, reçut également le Maybach HL210 P45. La capitulation en mai 1945 a interrompu la mise au point du Maybach HL234, évolution du HL230 qu'il devait remplacer sur les nouveaux chars, sa puissance devant atteindre 900 ch. Près de 20 ans plus tard, l'entreprise a été rebaptisée MTU Friedrichshafen. La marque ne se relèvera pas de la Seconde Guerre mondiale et tombera dans les marques oubliées du groupe Mercedes-Benz jusqu'en 2002.
La résurrection
Recréée sous le nom Maybach Manufaktur, elle est aujourd'hui la marque de très haut de gamme du groupe. Depuis son rachat, Maybach a développé les modèles 57 et 62 (respectivement 5,7 m et 6,2 m de long), des berlines de grand luxe disponibles également en version sport avec la 57S et 62S depuis 2006. Elles sont basées sur une plate-forme de Mercedes Classe S modifiée et allongée. Maybach a aussi conçu une voiture d'exception nommée Exelero, une « sportive » de 5,89 m et 2,7 t avec 700 chevaux et un couple de 1020 Nm. Elle passe de 0 à 100 km/h en seulement 4,4 s. Cette voiture servait aussi de vitrine technologique aux performances des pneumatiques Exelero dont elle tire le nom et qui sont produits par l'équipementier allemand Fulda. Lors d’essais sur l’anneau de Nardo en Italie, elle a atteint 351,45 km/h, un record du monde pour une limousine chaussée de pneus de série. Avec Rolls Royce et Bentley, Maybach fait aujourd'hui partie de l'élite dans le domaine de véhicules de luxe, certains modèles avoisinant le million de dollars. Cette renaissance est aussi due à l'engouement de certains rappeurs américains, au premier rang desquels on trouve Rick Ross "The Boss", connu pour avoir lancé son label Maybach Music, the hottest label in the game, et avoir enregistré un certain nombre de titres du même nom (notamment le fameux Maybach Music avec Jay-Z). Il peut d'ailleurs aujourd'hui être qualifié d'ambassadeur officieux de la marque, faisant de la Maybach un objet de reconnaissance sociale et de réussite dans le milieu du rap, à en juger par les paroles de la chanson My President is Black de Jay-Z dans laquelle il déclare : « My President is black/ My Maybach too... ». Une Maybach a aussi été utilisée dans le clip Otis. Néanmoins, le groupe Daimler a annoncé fin 2011 la fin de la production des deux modèles existants dans le courant de l'année 2013. Bien que gagnant de l'argent sur chaque voiture produite, le groupe reconnaît ainsi que la marque Maybach n'a pu s'imposer face à Bentley et Rolls-Royce, puisque la production annuelle ne dépassait pas 10 % de l'objectif fixé par le constructeur.
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Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH was a European luxury car manufacturer. The company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son, originally a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH and was itself known as Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH until 1912. Today, the ultra-luxury car brand is owned by Daimler AG and based in Stuttgart. Tognum AG based in Friedrichshafen used to manufacture the commercial Maybach diesel engines under the MTU brand through its subsidiary MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH. Daimler announced in November 2011 that Maybach will cease to be a brand by 2013 and manufactured the last Maybach-vehicle in December 2012. This was due to poor sales having only sold 3,000 cars since their revival in 2002. The decision follows almost a decade of trying to make Maybach a profitable rival to Rolls Royce and Bentley. Maybach was replaced by a new and more luxurious S-Class from the Mercedes brand, which is also owned by Daimler.
1909–1940: Early history
Wilhelm Maybach was technical director of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) until he left in 1907. On 23 March 1909 he founded the new company, Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH (literally "Aircraft Engine Building Company"), with his son Karl Maybach as director. In 1912 they renamed it to Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH ("Maybach Engine Construction Company"). The company originally developed and manufactured diesel and petrol engines for Zeppelins, and then rail cars. Its Maybach Mb.IVa was used in aircraft and airships of World War I. The company first built an experimental car in 1919, introduced as a production model two years later at the Berlin Motor Show. Between 1921 and 1940, the company produced a variety of opulent vehicles, now regarded as classics. The company also continued to build heavy duty diesel engines for marine and rail purposes.
1940–1945 Second World War
During the Second World war, Maybach produced the engines for Nazi Germany's medium and heavy tanks. The engine plant was one of several industries targeted at Friedrichshafen. After WW II the factory performed some repair work, but automotive production was never restarted, and some 20 years later, the company was renamed MTU Friedrichshafen. Daimler-Benz purchased the company in 1960. PostEarly poster with double M logo1960 the company was mainly used to make special editions of Mercedes cars in the W108 and W116 model range which were virtually hand built. These cars however carried the Mercedes badge and serial numbers.
1997–2013 revival
Daimler presented a luxury concept car at the 1997 Tokyo Motorshow. A production model based on it was introduced in two sizes — the Maybach 57 and the Maybach 62, reflecting the lengths of the automobiles in decimetres. In 2005, the 57S was added, powered by a 6.0L V12 bi-turbo engine producing 604 bhp (450 kW) and 737 lb·ft (999 N·m) of torque, and featuring various cosmetic touches. To promote the new Maybach line Mercedes-Benz engaged figures such as Maybach heir Ulrich Schmid-Maybach and golfer Nick Faldo, to serve as brand ambassadors. The base price of a 2009 Maybach 57 was US$344,000; the Maybach 57 S, US$381,000; the Maybach 62, US$394,000; the Maybach 62 S, US$430,000, and the Maybach Landaulet semi-convertible costs just over US$1 million. The Maybach 57 Zeppelin is priced at €406,000 (US$580,000) and the 62 Zeppelin at €473,200 (US$677,000). Initially, Daimler-Chrysler predicted annual sales of 2,000 worldwide with 50% coming from the United States; however, these expectations never materialized. In 2007 Mercedes bought back 29 US dealers, reducing the total from 71 to 42. In 2010, only 157 Maybachs were sold worldwide, compared to 2,711 similarly priced Rolls-Royces. Just 3,000 have been sold worldwide since the marque was revived in 2002.
Cancellation and the end of Maybach
With poor sales expectations and the heavy impact of the 2008 financial crises, Daimler AG undertook a complete review of the Maybach division, approaching Aston Martin to engineer and style the next generation of Maybach models along with the next generation of Lagondas. According to Automotive News, only 44 Maybachs had been sold in the U.S. through October 2011. The line will be replaced by the next-generation of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class due for the 2014 model year, particularly the long wheelbase S-Class Pullman. An executive told a Frankfurt newspaper that Daimler came to the conclusion that the sales chances for the Mercedes brand were better than that of Maybach." According to Fortune Magazine, after missing out on the chance to purchase Rolls-Royce and Bentley when they were up for sale in the 1990s, "Mercedes backpedaled and decided it needed to be in the ultra-luxury business too, but it went after it in a remarkably clumsy way". Fortune stated that the first Maybach models had poor driving dynamics compared to its contemporaries from Rolls-Royce and Bentley, as "Mercedes took an aging S-class chassis and plopped an absurdly elongated body on it...rather than develop a new car from the wheels up, as BMW did with Rolls-Royce, or cleverly use the underpinnings of an existing model like the Volkswagen Phaeton for a new Bentley". Furthermore, Maybachs were never advertised as owner-driven vehicles, as the company believed that the luxury amenities would be sufficient to sell and they even insisted that auto journalists (who usually test drive the vehicle) ride in the backseat. Another suggestion for Maybach's struggles was that parent Daimler had failed to differentiate it from its Mercedes-Benz brand. While all three ultra-luxury marques share platforms and engines with other luxury brands from their parent auto company, Maybachs are built alongside the Mercedes-Benz S-Class flagship sedan, whereas Rolls-Royce and Bentley are assembled in England (separate from the rest of BMW and Volkswagen Group's production plants) and thus are regarded as being more "exclusive". Furthermore the Maybach's pedigree was virtually unknown outside of Germany unlike its British rivals which have long enjoyed renown worldwide; indeed the 2006 Rolls-Royce Phantom's interior evokes memories of a 1930s car while the Maybach 57S's inside makes no reference to its marque's history. In November 2011, Daimler's CEO Dieter Zetsche announced, that the Maybach-brand will cease to exist in 2012, making room for other models of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The Maybach-limousines will still be sold up to the year 2013, but after that, the name "Maybach" would not be used anymore. On August 14, 2012, parent Daimler AG announced the official discontinuation of Maybach by releasing a pricing sheet officially discontinuing the Maybach 57, 57S, 62, 62S and Laundaulet. On December 17, 2012, the last Maybach-vehicle was manufactured in Sindelfingen. The Maybach brand became a staple of popular culture, with its name being almost synonymous for luxury despite the cease of operations. The American rapper Rick Ross made Maybach Music Group the name of his record label, and almost all of his albums have a song named after the car.