BEIJING MOTOR SHOW: Mercedes-Maybach to show its GLS concept

Mercedes-Maybach has released a video tease of its first-ever ultra-luxurious take on an SUV ahead of its reveal at the Beijing motor show at the end of this month.

The super-luxury SUV concept, set to be based on the forthcoming third-generation Mercedes-Benz GLS, is thought to be close to production and will be on sale as soon as 2019.

Created to rival the Bentley Bentayga and forthcoming Rolls-Royce Cullinan, the large Maybach SUV teased in the short video released on the car-maker's Facebook page appears to suggest the fit, finish and quality of the materials used on the concept will match its current S-Class-based models.

Sharing the same platform, aluminium and steel body panels, and even an engine and transmission with the new GLS, the new and more luxurious (and expensive) SUV -- which is rumoured by Autocar to be called the Maybach 9 -- will differ from the next GLS with some key visual changes.

These include a front grille inspired by the Vision Mercedes-Maybach Coupe, different alloy wheels and more elegant styling elements with plenty of chrome.

Thanks to its new underpinnings, Mercedes-Benz's MHA (Modular High Architecture) platform, Maybach's first SUV will also feature autonomous driving aids well beyond any current Benz.

The MHA platform will also help the large SUV package the car maker's latest 48-volt mild hybrid powertrain technology.

Useful, because the Maybach is set to downsize from the S-Class' 463kW/1000Nm 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 to an electrified powertrain led by Mercedes-AMG's M177 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8.

Despite shrinking in size, the smaller AMG unit will at least match the outgoing V12's towering torque figure and produce almost 500kW.

It's likely to be badged as the GLS 560 and soon after its launch a plug-in hybrid version will also join the range that could carry the GLS 560e nameplate. Despite sharing numbers, the more efficient plug-in version will come with a smaller 3.0-litre inline six that, thanks to an electronic compressor, will produce 270kW.

Combined with a 90kW electric motor, the large SUV is rumoured to offer owners a pure-electric range of around 50km.

Built alongside the rest of the GLS range at Mercedes-Benz's Tuscaloosa plant in Alabama, USA, the Maybach GLS will be the first car from the luxury sub-brand made outside of Germany.

Pricing when it arrives in Europe is set to kick off from €150,000 ($A240,000).