Chinese Firm BYD Buying Maybach from Mercedes?

The fluttering of the death angels have been heard around the halls of Maybach headquarters these past few days - and I'm sure that the days have been stretching out and seeming like weeks. What with the world economic mess, and the sales dropping off, what's an uber-luxo-barge maker to do?

The rumor has been that Daimler, parent company of Maybach, has been considering selling off the brand. And that seems like a reasonable thing to assume, and it gives the rumors credence, but who would Daimler sell the brand to? Who's got that kind of cash, and who would be interested?

Turns out that things just heated up with news that Chinese firm BYD might be an interested suitor. The website auto.sina.com (one of China's largest auto-related websites it would seem) is reporting that an official from BYD (who's name was not revealed) confirmed the companies interest in acquiring the Maybach brand from Mercedes-Benz within the next few years.

The BYD source declared that the Chinese auto manufacturer would "launch the acquisition" when Mercedes finalizes its decision to end the Maybach nameplate. Ouch! No, not ouch that MB will sell their uber-division, but that it was referred to simply as " the Maybach nameplate." Gah, it's like they're tossing it in the same boat as Pontiac. How insulting.

BYD and Merc are already working together to market electric vehicles in China, so the companies already have a working relationship. Whether or not that relationship translates into the acquisition of Maybach remains to be seen.

From the Germans side of things, it seems unlikely that Mercedes would hand over the flagship Maybach to another company. But on the other hand, BYD, or any other Chinese company, sounds like a good suitor.

The Chinese seem to be rolling in cash, and they've got no problem tooling around the streets of Beijing, Shanghai and the like, in the most showy and expensive cars they can get their hands on. So a "Chinese" Maybach makes a certain kind of perverse sense.

Source: AuroBlog