The 2027 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 680 has been unveiled, featuring a reworked V8 engine, a smarter suspension, and a cabin that borrows tricks from the S-Class flagship. The new model is produced in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, rather than a European coachbuilder’s workshop.
A Front End Designed to Be Noticed
The centerpiece of the new GLS is a redesigned Maybach-specific radiator grille with an illuminated outline. The MAYBACH lettering itself lights up inside the grille frame, and in select markets, buyers can option an illuminated upright star on the hood.
The headlamps get rose-gold accents and Maybach emblems, tied into the grille by a sleek black panel. This creates a continuous design statement rather than a collection of parts.
Design and Features
Out back, a redesigned tailgate panel visually stretches the new taillights into a single wide graphic, with three-dimensional star motifs framed in chrome. Two new paint options join the palette, including a dark petrol non-metallic and a two-tone dark petrol over verde silver metallic finish.
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The forged 23-inch wheels carry Maybach’s signature party trick: a center-mounted Mercedes-Benz star that stays perfectly upright no matter how fast the wheel is turning. A precision ball-bearing mechanism lets it self-level using gravity alone.
Inside, the new MBUX Superscreen fuses three 12.3-inch displays into a single piece of glass, finished in Maybach’s rose-gold dial treatment. Rear passengers get their own pair of 11.6-inch displays with individually configurable remotes.
Power and Performance
The new GLS features a reworked V8 engine.
The suspension story is arguably the more interesting one, with the new AIRMATIC air suspension using real-time Car-to-X data.
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Driving Assistance and Production
The GLS introduces MB.DRIVE ASSIST PRO, an SAE Level 2 system.
Every Mercedes-Maybach GLS is assembled at the Tuscaloosa plant, with a dedicated two-person team, trained in Germany at the Mercedes-Maybach MANUFAKTUR, who hand-finish each vehicle’s interior outside the regular assembly flow.
Order books open in the US and Europe at the end of July 2026, following China, where the GLS can already be configured. Pricing hasn’t been confirmed, but given the outgoing GLS 600 started above $180,000.
Maybach isn’t treating this as a mid-cycle refresh. Between the power bump, the MB.OS software stack, and a hand-finishing process that rivals a European coachbuilder, this is Mercedes making its most direct case yet that Bentley and Rolls-Royce no longer have this segment to themselves.
