A few years ago, Rolls-Royce’s director of global communications Richard Carter said the brand’s vehicles do not compete with other cars, but with helicopters and yachts.
That was at a time when Maybach was a standalone brand producing the 57 and 62 limousines, which directly targeted the Rolls-Royce Phantom. But has the British automaker’s perception changed now that Mercedes-Benz has revived the Maybach name as a sub brand for ultra-luxurious models? Well, not really. Rolls-Royce doesn’t view Mercedes-Maybach as a direct competitor, rather more as a competitor for second-hand Rolls-Royce vehicles.
“The Maybach is not a direct competitor to Rolls-Royce, if you look at how we view our competition,” Gerry Spahn, the head of communications for Rolls-Royce in North America, told CarAdvice. “There may be areas where in a provenance program, whereby it’s a second owner, where a Maybach might be a competitor to a provenance Ghost. It’s a different design, different category for us. It’s a nice car, we just view as not being a direct competitor,” he added.
Spahn reiterated the idea that Rolls-Royce competes against non-automotive purchases, because for its customers buying a car is not really a financial decision.
“Our competition is not necessarily vehicles, I can say airplanes, yachts, real estate, art, that’s where we are competing with. Our owners are putting down $20 million on a yacht. They may want to buy one or two Rolls-Royces to go along with it,” the executive added.
When asked why the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class is not seen as a competitor despite having a similar price to the Rolls-Royce Ghost (pictured), Spahn said price doesn’t matter in this segment.
“It’s not price. It has nothing to do with price. It’s positioning. Our owners buy a Rolls-Royce because they want exclusivity and even though you can customize a Maybach or Bentley, the bespoke options on a Rolls-Royce to be absolutely exclusive are way beyond,” Spahn explained.
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