RideLust

The 2011 Maybach. Image: Mercedes-Benz

If you dream of owning a brand-new Maybach, consider yourself warned: you have until early 2013 to raise the $372,500 minimum price of admission for a Maybach 57, or the $423,500 it takes to own a Maybach 62. According to AutoWeek, Mercedes-Benz has finally made the official decision to kill off it’s under-performing uber-luxury brand, which never managed to achieve the 800 units per-year projected by Mercedes-Benz to make the brand profitable.

Mercedes will instead focus on the redesign of its flagship S-Class, and will work to take this model even further upscale than its current market position. When a new S-Class debuts in 2013, expect it to come in three different wheelbase lengths, with a variety of powerplant options and even a range-topping S600 Pullman.

Until the new S-Class debuts, the Maybach brand will soldier on, giving new NBA players and the teenage sons of rap and hip-hop moguls something to aspire to.