That Mercedes-Benz has given its strange luxury offshoot Maybach an SUV isn’t surprising.
Everyone in the premium playground — from Lamborghini, to Aston Martin to Rolls-Royce — has either bitten the bullet and produced its take on a practical load-lugger or is making serious noises about doing so.
And thus, Mercedes-Benz is about to show off the Mercedes-Maybach Vision Ultimate Luxury at the Beijing Motor Show.
The surprise here is ... well, just look at it. Is it an SUV at all? Or is it a high-riding sedan with a stubby boot?
It’s certainly large, but can carry only four people, so Mercedes-Maybach clearly isn’t concerned with the practical side of the equation.
Thanks to the vehicle’s teaser website “accidentally” going live earlier than anticipated (it has been taken down again), we do know a few details about the limo-on-stilts.
Unsurprisingly — again — the Merc-Maybach will be an all-electric affair, with a motor in each wheel generating total output of 560kW. That will allegedly be enough to push the luxo-barge to a governed top speed of 250km/h, with a claimed 320km driving range on a full charge.
The interesting news is that the manufacturer states the battery can be charged to 75 per cent in five minutes when using a fast-charger. Alternatively, the owner — sorry, the owner’s chauffeur — can utilise an inductive charging pad to top up the big machine.
As you’d expect, the interior is as unconventional as the exterior. Leaked images show white leather seats partially cocooned in rose-gold shells, lots of woodgrain, blue LED strip lighting and a full-length central console which houses a tea set for rear seat passengers. But of course.
About the only detail that has escaped notice so far is what’s inside that bulbous boot section. Expect colour-matched Merc-Maybach luxury suitcases.
Or, in the tradition of veteran luxury vehicles, one enormous spare wheel.
Or maybe a travel cage for your pet white tigers.
Are we missing out on MG?
Speaking of the Beijing Motor Show, another brand teasing a new concept ahead of the event is MG, the once-very-British now very-Chinese manufacturer of a variety of models, some of which may or may not be giving Mazda’s patent lawyers headaches.
The firm is about to unveil a large-ish SUV called, in concept form at least, the X-Motion. So far, so whatever. But the news got us thinking; is New Zealand missing out here? Might MG be capable of some genuinely good machinery that we’ll never see?
Especially when you consider the rather lovely-looking E-Motion electric sports coupe concept the company previewed in Beijing last year (and which is apparently due to start production in 2020), MG has perhaps proven itself the most familiar-sounding brand from China, but the one with the least impact here.
Aside from tentative stabs at distributing the MG 3 (hatchback), MG 6 (sedan) and a faceless crossover called the GS, we’ve not seen much of the octagon-shaped marque in New Zealand. Is that a shame? Maybe it is ...
Now, here at the Good Oil offices we’re not suggesting for a moment the MGs we aren’t getting will be any good. But our innate fear of missing out demands that we at least be allowed to discover that for ourselves. There’s even a one-make budget-friendly MG3 Trophy race series overseas, for goodness sake.
Whoever’s not bringing MG to our shores, do something about the situation please.
M Power? Try pedal power
You can usually spot a BMW M aficionado. They’ll be the one dressed head-to-toe in M paraphernalia.
The palette of their wardrobe will consist of red, white, blue and ... er, a slightly lighter shade of blue. They’ll wear jackets of a Euro-centric disposition, crafted from white leather you’d never risk drinking a takeaway coffee in, let alone child-minding pre-schoolers.
So, what is an M enthusiast to do when in need of some exercise off the beaten track? M surfboard? M hiking boots and backpack perhaps? What about an M bike?
Ah, well the Munich manufacturer can do that.
Behold, the BMW M limited carbon edition bike. We’re not interested enough in bikes to reel off the techy details but there is plenty of lightweight carbon and hydro-forged aluminium. It’s also painted the Marina Bay Blue hue that adorns many of BMW’s M cars.
The bike is limited to 500, so they’re probably all gone.
But for a limited-edition version, the $2400-ish asking price doesn’t seem too bad. Certainly not if you’ve just laid down $170,000 for an X5 M50d to get you to the mountain bike park in the first place.
No mention of a BMW M bike rack. Or would that be too much even for the biggest M exponent?