The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class has just had the biggest overhaul in its history, and the shock is not the illuminated grille, the rose-gold dials, or the star that lights up the ground beside your door. It is that you can now order a Maybach with no leather in it at all.
Stuttgart calls it the most extensive update the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class has ever had. For once the marketing department is not overselling. A new brain. Mild-hybrid V8s. A first-ever leather-free cabin. Air suspension that reads the road before you reach it. And enough personalisation to keep a small paint factory in permanent employment. Series production starts in April 2026 at Sindelfingen, in a plant building cars since 1915. Australian pricing and timing are not confirmed, so keep the chequebook holstered a while longer.
This range sits at the very top of everything Mercedes-Benz builds. The local arm has yet to say which versions come here. The full global detail lives on the Mercedes-Benz Australia site. The halo drips all the way down the ladder, mind you. The company wants even the electric C-Class to feel like a mini S-Class inside. That tells you how much this flagship carries on its shoulders.
A V8 That Made the V12 Look Silly
The Maybach S 680 keeps its M177 V8. The mild-hybrid lifts it to 450 kW and 850 Nm in Europe, up 17 kW and a fairly serious 205 Nm. Read that again. It is level on power with the old 6.0-litre V12. That V12 survives in selected markets only, wearing a special grille badge like a dethroned monarch allowed to keep one wing of the palace. The S 580 V8 gets the same treatment at 395 kW and 750 Nm. There is also the S 580 e. It pairs a revised inline-six with a plug, good for around 100 km of electric running, for the billionaire who fancies gliding past the servo in silence.
The V8s drink between 11.0 and 11.7 litres per 100km. They puff out up to 267 g/km, a number that sends a European legislator reaching for the smelling salts. The plug-in hybrid claims a weighted 73 g/km. So you can feel briefly virtuous on the run between the airport and the second home. None of it is subtle. None of it is meant to be.
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ABOVE: The 2026 Mercedes-Maybach S-Class
The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class Finally Skips the Cowhide
Here is the genuine first, and it is a good one. The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class can now be had in a leather-free trim called stormy grey. It uses embossed ARTICO man-made leather and a Mirville melange textile, woven from linen and recycled polyester. Deep white piping. Open-quilted diamond stitching that runs into the doors. The material is said to meet the same standards as the hide it replaces. For a car whose entire pitch has always been the softest bovine money can buy, that is quite the pivot. A welcome one, too.
The cabin also gains a new beech brown colour, open-pore oak, and amber-brown herringbone wood. Active Ambient Lighting spreads across 199 LEDs, 10 colour worlds, and 64 shades, Rose Gold White and Amethyst Glow among them. It reacts to your voice, the climate, and the driver aids. So the interior can glow smugly at you while the car parks itself. There are optional comfort doors in the rear that open at the press of a button. Handy, for the passenger who considers a door handle a form of manual labour.
A Supercomputer That Guards the Champagne
The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class becomes the first Maybach on MB.OS based on Linux and BlackBerry QNX, intentionally moving away from an Android-based operating system. It turns the fourth-generation MBUX into full rose-gold dress. The Superscreen fuses a 36.6 cm central display and a 31.2 cm passenger screen under one sheet of glass. The driver gets a 31.2 cm cluster with optional 3D. Rear passengers get two 13.1-inch screens with cameras for video calls. The MBUX Virtual Assistant now leans on generative AI from ChatGPT 4o, Microsoft Bing, and Google Gemini. It appears as a rose-gold star avatar. One that will presumably answer back with better manners than most humans.
The rear console still cradles two silver-plated Robbe and Berking champagne flutes, an S-Class option since 2002. Below them sits a removable 10-litre fridge. New AIRMATIC air suspension reads the tarmac ahead using Car-to-X data from cars in front. The dampers soften before the pothole rather than after it. That is the whole reason for spending this much money. A dedicated Maybach drive mode exists purely for wafting. MB.DRIVE ASSIST is standard in Europe. The PRO version does point-to-point assisted driving, rolling out in China first and the United States after. Nothing says quiet confidence like turning the robot loose on someone else’s roads first.
MANUFAKTUR now offers more than 150 exterior paints and over 400 interior colours. Choices run from black sparkling glass-flake to verde silver magno. A new Made to Measure programme adds hundreds of historic Mercedes and Maybach paints, plus a visualiser that renders your choices live. The Night Series gains a nautic blue metallic. It is the same dark-and-brooding trick pulled on the E-Class Night editions, only aimed at owners who think in yachts rather than cars.
The Verdict From the Back Seat
Markus Bauer, head of Mercedes-Maybach, calls it “a very clear statement of what our brand stands for today: exceptional comfort, great attention to detail and a very modern understanding of exclusivity.” Stripped of the finery, the new Mercedes-Maybach S-Class lets you sit in recycled textile, argue with a chatbot, and keep your champagne cold. All while a mild-hybrid V8 quietly embarrasses the last of the V12s. Australian pricing and timing are still to come. Expect a local unveiling, probably at the Mercedes-Benz Studio in Sydney, long before anyone hands over a deposit.
Mercedes-Maybach S-Class Key Numbers
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Maybach S 680 | M177 V8, 450 kW, 850 Nm (Europe) |
| Maybach S 580 | V8, 395 kW, 750 Nm |
| Maybach S 580 e | Inline-six PHEV, around 100 km EV range |
| V12 (M279) | 450 kW, selected markets only |
| Central display | 36.6 cm, under one glass with passenger screen |
| Ambient lighting | 199 LEDs, 10 colour worlds, 64 shades |
| Cabin first | Leather-free stormy grey option |
| Champagne | Two silver-plated Robbe and Berking flutes, 10-litre fridge |
| Production start | April 2026, Sindelfingen |
| Australian pricing | To be confirmed |
More Mercedes-Benz Stories
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- Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-AMG E-Class Editions Go Dark in Australia
- Mercedes-Benz CLA Brings Hybrid And EV Choice To Australia
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Alan Zurvas is the founder and editor of Gay Car Boys, Australia's leading LGBTQI+ automotive publication. Before launching GCB in 2008, Alan's automotive writing was published in SameSame.com.au and the Star Observer. With over 16 years of hands-on car reviewing experience, Alan brings an honest, irreverent voice to every review — championing value and innovation over brand loyalty.
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