Beijing 2010: Updated Maybachs

If you aren't yet convinced that Beijing is the new place to launch the world's most decadent new luxury sedans, is this enough evidence?

While Rolls-Royce and Bentley, owned by Volkswagen and BMW, have been very successful, Maybach, owned Mercedes-Benz, hasn't met the same success.

There have been many reports that the brand would be cut, but it doesn't look like that is the case - yet. Besides, the segment is highly lucrative - we guess that they'll give Maybach another go with a new model.

For a company like Mercedes that has a lot of pride, it would be a deep blow to exit the high-end market and acknowledge failure. Mercedes needs a competitor to Rolls-Royce and Bentley.

The exterior of the Maybach range benefits from a new grille that is differentiated between standard and S models, a new  hood, tail lights and door mirrors designed to reduce wind noise.

In the interior, there's a new partition separating the front and rear compartments, and reclining seats standard on the long-wheelbase 62 model are newly available on the passenger side of the 57 as well.

Remember the perfume dispenser from the special Zeppelin model? That is now available on the rest of the Maybach range, as well as available wireless internet (we'd want that!) and seat piping sporting Swarovski crystals.

The V-12 engine has been tweaked, with reduced emissions and fuel consumption in the standard model. The S model gets a bump of  18-horsepower, bringing the total output to 630. The changes are minimal - we're looking forward to seeing an all-new Maybach (if we ever get one!).