Welcome to the most rarefied showroom in the automotive world, where the cheapest car on the floor costs more than most American houses and nobody so much as glances at the sticker. This is the battle of the ultra-luxury SUVs, and the two heavyweights are the freshly updated Rolls-Royce Cullinan Series II and the Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600.
Here is the fascinating part. These two cars chase the same buyer from completely opposite directions. The Cullinan is the genuine article, a real Rolls-Royce that shares its architecture with the Phantom and Ghost. The Maybach is a Mercedes GLS dressed in its absolute finest, aimed squarely at making the back seat the best seat in the house. One costs roughly twice the other. So is the Rolls worth the enormous premium, or is the Maybach the smart money’s secret? I dug into both. Let me break it down.
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Round One: What’s Under the Hood
Let’s start with the engines, because they tell you everything about each car’s philosophy. The Rolls goes big, old school, and effortless. The Cullinan uses a twin turbo 6.75 liter V12 putting out 562 hp and 627 pound feet of torque, with a top speed capped at 155 mph and a 0 to 62 time of just under six seconds.
The Maybach takes the modern, downsized, electrified route. The GLS 600 makes do with four fewer cylinders, a 4.0 liter twin turbo V8 with mild hybrid assistance, producing 550 hp and 538 pound feet, and despite lacking the Rolls’s thrust, it’s one second quicker to 62 mph. Its top speed is limited to a more sedate 130 mph.
So the Rolls has more power, more torque, four more cylinders, and far more prestige under the hood. The Maybach is lighter on its feet off the line and more efficient thanks to the hybrid system. For sheer character and that silken, bottomless V12 surge, the Rolls wins this round. But the Maybach is no slouch, and frankly, neither of these is bought for drag racing.
Round Two: The Back Seat Battle
Here is where it gets genuinely interesting, because these two define luxury differently. The Maybach is obsessed with the rear passenger, and it shows. The GLS takes its seats to the next level with a split two seat setup with a fixed center console available on special request, and it’s squarely aimed at making sure the back seats are the best place to be. Reclining first-class rear chairs, heated and cooled cupholders, champagne flutes, a refrigerated compartment, rear tablets. It is a private jet cabin on wheels.
And the surprising verdict from those who have compared them back to back? The Maybach’s rear seat might actually be the better place to spend a journey. Rolls-Royce reigned supreme in the realm of comfort, especially its plush ride, though the GLS 600’s rear seating was a better place for the trip. That is a genuine win for the Mercedes, and a meaningful one if you plan to be chauffeured.
The Rolls counters with a different kind of luxury, less first-class airline, more stately drawing room. Rather than the first class passenger vibe Maybach specializes in, the Cullinan feels like traveling in a high end living room, with coach doors at the back containing built in umbrellas handed to you by the chauffeur. It is also more exclusive back there. Only the Cullinan offers rear compartment side curtains for an extra layer of seclusion.
Round Three: Craftsmanship and the Realness Factor
This is where the Rolls pulls decisively ahead, and it comes down to a fundamental truth about each car. The Cullinan is a real Rolls-Royce. The Maybach is a very fancy Mercedes.
The Cullinan’s interior is uncompromising. Rolls-Royce dedicated its interior to out and out luxury over technology, with no sign of any plastic on show, and a theme of real leather and wood throughout. And the genuine pedigree matters. The Cullinan shares its nuts and bolts with the Ghost and Phantom, whereas the Maybach GLS is basically a Benz GLS with a few extra bits and bobs.
That distinction is the whole ballgame for some buyers. The Maybach starts life as a GLS that begins around $87,000. The Cullinan starts life as a Rolls-Royce. When it comes to bespoke personalization, it is not even close. The Maybach offers 14 paints, eight leathers, and curated specifications, while Rolls-Royce Bespoke ventures beyond, offering a collaborative one of one commission, letting you become the curator of every surface and stitch, even upholstery woven in pure cashmere. Gold leaf fascias, gemstone inlays, a paint color matched to a sunset. The Rolls is a blank canvas. The Maybach is a generous options list.
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How They Stack Up
Here is the head to head at a glance.
| Spec | Rolls-Royce Cullinan Series II | Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 |
| Engine | 6.75L twin-turbo V12 | 4.0L twin-turbo V8 hybrid |
| Power | 563 hp / 627 lb-ft | 550 hp / 538 lb-ft |
| 0 to 60 | Around 4.9 sec | Around 4.8 sec |
| Top Speed | 155 mph | 130 mph |
| Starting Price | Around $420,000+ | Around $180,000 |
| Best Seat | The driver’s living room | The first-class rear suite |
That price row is the headline. The Cullinan comes from well over $376,750 and with options easily scrapes the half million dollar mark, while the Maybach GLS 600 costs roughly half that. The Rolls is, give or take, twice the price.
The Value Question Nobody Wants to Ask
So is the Cullinan twice the SUV for twice the money? This is the question that haunts the comparison, and the honest answer is nuanced. The Cullinan certainly claims victories in some areas, but it’s hard to justify the jump in costs based on these merits alone, though typical Rolls-Royce buyers aren’t concerned about such details anyway.
That last clause is everything. On a rational, merit-per-dollar basis, the Maybach is the smarter buy by a wide margin. It delivers the better rear seat, far more modern technology, and 90 percent of the presence for half the price. But ultra-luxury was never about value. It is about owning the absolute pinnacle, the thing nothing else can top, and on that score the Rolls is untouchable.
Both cars have warts, too, and I will not pretend otherwise. Some quality issues were more prevalent on the Maybach, such as orange peel in the exterior finish, while the bland accelerator and brake pedals on the Cullinan were not befitting a machine of its price. Neither is flawless. At these prices, that is mildly outrageous, but there it is.
The Styling Standoff
Looks are subjective at this altitude, but they matter when the whole point is making an entrance. The Maybach plays the flashier hand. The GLS leans into expressive flourish with two tone exteriors, a gleaming grille, and a more svelte, palatable appearance. The Cullinan is more monolithic and more divisive. It embraces sophisticated understatement with a monolithic front fascia, vertical headlamps, and the Spirit of Ecstasy rising above its Illuminated Grille.
Some find the Cullinan awkward, even after the Series II refresh tidied it up. But awkward or not, that Spirit of Ecstasy and that grille carry a social weight the three-pointed star on a GLS simply cannot match. The Rolls is a statement. The Maybach is a very nice car.
Verdict: It Depends on What You’re Really Buying
So which ultra-luxury SUV wins? Honestly, they serve two different buyers, and both can walk away happy.
If you are the smart-money buyer, the one who wants the best chauffeured experience and refuses to pay double for a badge, the Maybach GLS 600 is the clear pick, and it is no embarrassment whatsoever. Its first-class rear suite is arguably the finest back seat in the entire segment, it is packed with modern technology the Rolls lacks, and it costs roughly half as much. For the person who values substance and sense over pure prestige, the Maybach is the genuinely intelligent choice, and you will want for nothing back there with a glass of champagne in the cooled cupholder.
But if you want the actual pinnacle, the real thing, the car that makes every other SUV on the road feel slightly ordinary, it has to be the Cullinan Series II. It is a genuine Rolls-Royce sharing its soul with the Phantom and Ghost, with a magic-carpet ride no rival matches, a cabin like a moving drawing room, coach doors with umbrellas, bespoke craftsmanship limited only by your imagination, and the kind of prestige that money, lots and lots of money, exists to buy. It is the better driver’s luxury SUV and the ultimate statement of arrival.
Here is where I land. On merit per dollar, the Maybach wins, and it is the one I would tell most buyers to get. But the Cullinan was never playing the value game. It is playing the pinnacle game, and at that, it is peerless. So ask yourself one question: are you buying the smartest luxury SUV, or the ultimate one? Answer that, and your choice makes itself. Either way, the valet is going to remember you. And honestly, at this level, that might be the entire point.
