Updated Mercedes Maybach S Class gets a leather free cabin, digital luxury and a V12

From the outside, Mercedes made no real attempt to pretend modesty. The Maybach grille grew by 20 per cent, an illuminated Maybach script now sits along its upper edge, and the light show can extend to the C pillar logos and bonnet ornament as well. The headlamps gained rose gold details, while the options list now includes new 20 inch and 21 inch wheels, among them designs with centre caps that remain upright. Mercedes did not make the shape subtler. It made the car more visible, quite deliberately.

A different kind of luxury inside

The same message continues in the cabin, only in a newer dialect. For the first time, Maybach offers this model with a leather free interior, where ARTICO synthetic trim meets Mirville fabric made from linen and recycled polyester. This is not a retreat from luxury, but an expansion of its definition. The customer still gets the sense of craftsmanship, but now with a material choice that speaks more directly to buyers who increasingly link prestige with more conscious consumption.

At the same time, the Maybach gets MBUX Superscreen powered by MB.OS for the first time. Rear passengers also receive 13.1 inch displays, control units and video call cameras as standard. The result is not merely a more digital cabin, but one that tries to present technology as part of the theatre. In a Maybach, even the interface is expected to know its place.

Old power still matters

The powertrain line up shows that Mercedes is not dismantling the old luxury formula, only editing it carefully. The S 580 now uses a more powerful electrically assisted V8 producing 530bhp and 750Nm, while the S 680 keeps its 6.0 litre twin turbo V12 with 621bhp. The V12 remains available only in selected markets. In some countries, Mercedes will also offer a plug in hybrid based on an inline six.

That matters because Maybach buyers are no longer choosing on cylinder count alone, but Mercedes clearly knows the cylinder count still matters. Especially at this level, symbolism is part of the engineering brief. A leather free cabin may signal one set of values, but a V12 still signals another, and Mercedes sees no reason it cannot sell both in the same car.

The bigger picture is all about margins

It also helps explain why Mercedes continues to refine the Maybach saloon with such care. When discussing its 2025 results, the group said that one in every three S Class models sold was already a Maybach. In China, the figure rose to one in two. Mercedes also continues to describe the top end segment as a strategic growth area, with Maybach sitting at the heart of its idea of refined luxury.

So this updated S Class is not just another mid cycle refresh. It forms part of a broader plan to protect margins at a time when electrification, Chinese competition and the technology arms race are all rewriting the rules of the premium market. Mercedes is not simply polishing a limousine here. It is reinforcing one of its most profitable statements.

That is what makes this new Maybach especially interesting. In one car, Mercedes offers two values that might appear to pull in opposite directions: more responsible material choices and the full theatre of V12 hierarchy. It is not a contradiction. It is a reading of the market. Luxury buyers no longer choose only by engine size, but by how a car communicates taste, technological standing and social intent.

Mercedes is clearly trying to turn the Maybach from a simple symbol of chauffeur driven status into a software rich, highly personalised luxury platform that can speak several value systems at once. In that sense, the updated S Class is not trying to decide what modern luxury should be. It is quietly betting that the richest customers would rather have all of it.