If you are a Maserati fan, these are heady times with the Italian brand’s largest portfolio on tap. Enjoy, because when the Maserati brand goes fully electric, the number of offerings could be slimmed down.
Maserati is one of the 14 brands under the Stellantis umbrella. It is the only premium brand, and it comes with 109 years of history. It had been sustaining itself as a small brand, with only three models: the Maserati Quattroporte and Ghibli sedans, and the Levante SUV. But with some of that sweet SUV money generated by the midsize Levante, the brand expanded to include a halo car with the Maserati MC20 mid-engine coupe and Cielo convertible. And the brand went further down the SUV rabbit hole with the smaller Maserati Grecale compact SUV. Soon to come is the 2024 Maserati GranTurismo four-door coupe, to be followed by the GranCabrio convertible.
The Maserati portfolio offers a mix of hybrids and pure-electric vehicles under the Folgore subrand. There are no plug-in hybrids, nor will there be any PHEVs in the transition to a fully electric lineup in 2025. The plan is to stop offering vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2030.
We talked to Bill Peffer, CEO of Maserati Americas, for updates on the products still to come, and those that will be let go. The brand will have gone from three vehicles a year ago, to six a year from now. “Most brands our size don’t totally transform their showroom in the short period of time that we’ve done it.” With an all-new showroom, the challenge is to give each of the new models enough runway.
Maserati will also be sunsetting some cars in their current iteration, Peffer says. “I don’t think we ever get to a point where we are less than where we were a year ago at three. But we are evolving.” He can’t say if the lineup will get as high as six models again when it is fully electric. Here is what to expect:
Maserati Grecale Already New Sales Leader
After its introduction in 2017, the Levante quickly became the volume leader. The smaller Grecale SUV, with a choice of two mild hybrid powertrains or the Trofeo with the 523-hp Nettuno V-6 engine, has only been available in the U.S. since the beginning of the year, and just reached the west coast March 1. It has already seized the sales crown from its big brother and is proving adept at conquesting sales from other brands. It is the first Maserati hybrid for the North American market.
The Grecale Folgore, the battery-electric version, is scheduled to go on sale at the end of the year. The small brand has the flexibility to adjust the model mix to meet the demand for each powertrain.
Maserati GranTurismo Returns as Brand Icon
The 2024 GranTurismo 2+2 coupe returns after a five-year hiatus to assume the role of brand icon. It sports an updated look, front midengine layout, AWD for the first time, standard air suspension, signature side vents, Italian flag above the glovebox, “Maserati since 1914” imprinted on each end of the dash, and tridents all over.
Riding on a new, dedicated platform, it is on sale now in Europe and will be available in the U.S. this spring in two variants: Modena and Trofeo, both with the 3.0-liter twin-turbo, Nettuno V-6.
Late this year or early in 2024, Maserati will add the 2024 GranTurismo Folgore which is the battery-electric model that uses 800-volt technology and will be the fastest and most expensive GT in the lineup. The Folgore drops the exhaust tips, adds body-color panels, illuminates the portholes, and wears an inverted version of the grille. It is on display this week at the Shanghai auto show and we could see it this summer during Monterey Car Week.
The GranTurismo has existed, in some form, since 1947 and is celebrating its 75th anniversary. To commemorate, Maserati offered the PrimaSerie 75th Anniversary Launch edition. There were less than 50 set aside for the U.S. and they went quickly, Peffer said.
Quattroporte Flagship to Stay Relevant
The Quattroporte flagship sedan dates back to 1963 and remains core to future plans, says Peffer. Maserati brand CEO Davide Grasso has said it will be reinvented as an electric vehicle in 2025. With the amount of equity in the name, it is expected to continue to be called Quattroporte. It will remain as the only sedan in the lineup when the Ghibli goes away after the 2024 model year and could shrink in size. The next Quattroporte will use the same dedicated Maserati platform as the GranTurismo which means it can accommodate both internal combustion engine and EV powertrains.
Ghibli Preparing to Sunset
There is a hybrid version of the midsize sedan offered in Europe but not in North America where it has celebrated ICE power with engines built by Ferrari in Maranello that can generate up to 580 horsepower and go 200 mph in a car that can be had for about $115,000. Maserati is committed to offering a Ghibli for the 2024 model year, after that it is expected to be discontinued. “The 2024 model will be a celebration of the V-8,” Peffer says.
Levante Next-Gen in Works
European customers get a Levante hybrid, but North America currently only has a combustion engine—again built by Ferrari. That will all change with the next-generation Levante coming in 2025 that will have an electric version. Peffer will not say if there will still be ICE versions of the next-gen Levante. It has been the volume vehicle since its introduction and generated name awareness and attention to the brand. Maserati’s naming commission is centered around winds and Peffer thinks it is important to maintain the heritage of the brand through the naming strategy.
MC20 Supercar Is the Halo
The supercar is the successor to the MC12 and is offered as a coupe and the MC20 Cielo convertible. A full electric MC20 is coming in 2025, according to Grasso.
Maserati is deliberately keeping volume low so the car retains a degree of exclusivity—fewer than 500 were offered in the first year. “We likely could have sold more but part of the equation is don’t overbuild,” says Peffer. Each model year is sold in one fell swoop, and customers must then wait for the next model year. That has already happened for the 2023 model year, including the MC20 Cielo (convertible) allotment which quickly sold out. There are several hundred orders for the Cielo in the U.S. of which only 20 have been delivered so far.
End of Ferrari V-8 Era
The 2024 model year will be the last for the Ferrari V-8 engines in the current lineup. After that, dealers have been told that core models with the Ferrari-built and Maserati designed V-8 will sunset, Peffer says. This includes variants of the Ghibli, Quattroporte, and Levante. Exact dates have not been given. Before the 580-hp, 538-lb ft 3.8-liter V-8 engine goes away, there are plans to do some cool things with the final models, Peffer says.
Taking up the slack is the Nettuno engine, which is the first Maserati built and designed engine with no Ferrari input, but with some F1 technology. The twin-turbo 3.0-liter Nettuno V-6 has a wide range: offering 483 hp in the GranTurismo base Modena trim; 542 hp in the high-performance Trofeo; 523 hp in the Grecale Trofeo, 621 hp in the MC20 and puts out about 740 in the Project24 track-only race version of the MC20. “It is a technical tour de force,” Peffer says of the Nettuno, which has the bandwidth to offer higher-performance versions of cars like the GranTurismo in the future. There are plans for more variants of the Nettuno, he says.
Building the Brand
Maserati has taken over the building that once housed the Chrysler museum in Auburn Hills, moving to Michigan from New Jersey in 2018 after the former Fiat Chrysler spun off Ferrari. There are about 90 people who work for the Americas: one of four regions selling the brand. Much of the leadership is based in L.A., including Peffer who joined in January 2021 from Kia. The U.S. became the biggest market in 2022.
The brand, historically known for sedans, had to stabilize itself and stop selling on price before it could start changing and growing with the introduction of the Maserati Levante in 2017, its first SUV, followed now by the Grecale. The volume from the SUVs allows Maserati to do niche vehicles like the MC20 and other halo vehicles like the GranTurismo. Maserati has grown from a brand of sedans to a purveyor of SUVs and supercars, Peffer says, as it works to capitalize on its history and heritage.
A challenge is raising awareness for the brand even though it is 109 years old and top of the chain at Stellantis. Awareness is needed for new nameplates like Grecale and the Folgore EV sub brand.
Maserati is also fighting the perception that the brand is out of reach price-wise. “Some people think Maseratis are more expensive than they actually are,” Peffer says. Yes, many models are expensive and an object of exclusivity—the brand has worked to reposition itself at a higher price point in introducing new models in high-end segments. But you can also get a Grecale for $65,000—probably the lowest (price adjusted) Maserati ever offered. “We’re not for everybody,” he says, and there are no plans to provide a full lineup or a Maserati for every need.
But there is one segment that would make sense to expand into for North America: a larger three-row SUV. “Bigger would be cooler,” Peffer says. There are a lot of fullsize SUVs being sold in the U.S., but it is a tricky assignment to pull off and stay true to the Maserati DNA. No decisions yet.
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