At the Cannes Film Festival in May, Daimler presented a special edition of the Maybach 62, studded with diamonds from Swiss jewelry maker De Grisogono that put it well above the normal sticker price of $423,500.
But the glitter is gone.
Daimler will drop its underperforming Maybach brand and concentrate on increasing sales of its Mercedes-Benz S-class models.
"We decided to go with Mercedes and drop Maybach by 2013, the year when the new S class comes," a Daimler spokesman said.
Daimler hasn't made a profit on Maybach since deciding to reintroduce the 1930s-era marque in 2002. The brand's 57 and 62 limousines are poor sellers compared with rival cars from Rolls-Royce and Bentley.
Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche decided not to push ahead with the development of replacement models for Maybach, which were tentatively due out in 2014.
Maybach was resurrected by Daimler in 2002 after the company's failure to buy Rolls-Royce and Bentley from British engineering conglomerate Vickers. BMW now owns Rolls, and Volkswagen owns Bentley.
Maybach hasn't seriously challenged Rolls-Royce and Bentley since its reintroduction.
Sales topped out at 600 in 2003 and slid to 200 last year. U.S. sales dropped to 63 last year from 244 in 2004. Rolls-Royce sold 2,700 vehicles worldwide in 2010 and Bentley sold 5,100.
