Just over a month until Maserati's most important car in years – here's the best look yet
By Matt Bird / Tuesday, February 15, 2022 / Loading comments
A familiar (if frustrating) theme has emerged with recent new Maseratis. Manufacturer-issued ‘spy shots’ aren’t a new fad (or unique to Maserati) but issuing them with so few words and little tangible information is an odd one. Today’s for the Grecale is actually a big one, at 113 words, but the message is very much the same. Quite literally, in fact, because the camouflaged SUV says ‘I’m the Maserati Grecale. I can’t tell you much more’ written on the side of it. Bizarre.
Anyway, there isn’t long to wait before much more is told, with the Grecale’s debut set for March 22nd. And with development at such a late stage, the disguise (however weird) is relatively light, meaning we get a proper look at Maserati’s crucial new car. The MC20 is very exciting, of course (and very good, by all accounts) but it’s going to sell in the hundreds. The volume will be in the SUVs, of which the Grecale – as a car smaller, newer, and more affordable than the Levante – is likely to be the most popular. So it’s important.
Nobody will confuse the Grecale for anything but a Maserati, at least. The Trident and trademark grille are and unmissable at the front end, framed by some Ford Puma-esque lights. The trio of grilles on the front wings are also present and correct, and the Trident is repeated on the C-pillar. There’s no mistaking the Grecale’s Maserati-ness, it seems.
Well apart from the rear, that is, which Maserati isn’t showing much of for now. At the moment it looks quite strongly influenced by the Audi Q8, especially in the lights, albeit with a more conventional SUV silhouette. There are at least some cues to the Grecale’s performance potential as well, with four exhausts, a roof spoiler and something sort of diffuser-shaped.
We expect the fastest Grecale to use a version of the 3.0-litre, 430hp turbo V6 also used in the Ghibli, Quattroporte and Levante. Maserati says that this latest camo wrap offers “a series of messages offers a preview of the Grecale’s technical specifications.” But, in reality, the messages include sentences like ‘Oh mamma mia, my Maserati Intelligent Assistant can be controlled by *****’ and ‘Bellissimo. My cockpit flaunts more than **” in display surfaces’, so aren’t really of very much help. Or tact.
In more encouraging news, Maserati is promising an ‘everyday exceptional’ SUV experience from the Grecale. It will of course enter a fiercely competitive segment, though with the Porsche Macan at the end of its combustion engined life there’s perhaps never been a time to launch a compact, premium SUV. More details to follow when the excruciating tease ends in just over a month.
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