The Mercedes-Maybach S600 Photo: Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz

German premium automaker Mercedes-Benz unveiled a new high-end automobile under its newly revived Maybach luxury sub-brand at the Guangzhou auto show, the Mercedes-Maybach S600 limousine.

Mercedes-Benz celebrated the model's world premier in Guangzhou one day ahead of the auto show, indicating the company's growing emphasis on the world's largest auto market.

The wheelbase of the Maybach S600 sedan reaches 3,365mm, 200mm longer than its S-Class sedans. The company said that the car will be targeted at China's commercial and social elites, who usually ride in the backseat of their cars driven by chauffeurs.

The car will be brought to China next year, though its price has not been announced yet.

The Maybach sub-brand is being revived to add ultra-luxury offerings to Mercedes-Benz's product portfolio, analysts said, and it is expected to compete with top-notch brands like Volkswagen's Bentley and BMW's Rolls-Royce.

China is already the largest market for Mercedes-Benz's luxury product line S-Class. Nicholas Speeks, president of Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co, told the Global Times on Thursday that the company also expects China to be the market in which most of the Maybach cars will be sold in the future.

The Maybach brand was acquired by Mercedes-Benz's parent firm Daimler in 1960.

However in 2012, Mercedes-Benz stopped making limousines under the Maybach brand due to unsatisfactory sales.

Zhu Bin, an analyst at consultancy LMC Automotive in Shanghai, said that the brand will face strong competition in the segment, as its rivals such as Bentley have already gained wide recognition in China.

"The ultra-luxury segment in China has entered into a phase of steady development after hyper growth. It would be good enough if Maybach could manage to sell 200 to 300 units in China in its first year," Zhu noted.

In addition to the new Maybach brand, Mercedes-Benz also brought its S 63 AMG coupe, the GLA 45 AMG 4MATIC compact SUV, the GLK 300 SUV as well as the new locally produced E 180 L sedan at the Guangzhou auto show.

The GLA compact SUV family, which also includes the GLA 200 and the GLA 260 4MATIC, is sold in the Chinese market via imports at present.

The company said that the series will be locally produced at its joint venture plant in Beijing with local partner BAIC Motor from the beginning of 2015.