There’s no doubt that Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is an outspoken and ambitious man. Paradoxically, while he succeeded in helping turn Chrysler around, the group’s European operations are in trouble.
His most recent plan is to use the Chrysler tie-up to boost sales of Maserati. He has quite a tight time-schedule, too: as Maserati CEO Harald Wester said, he wants the Modena-based luxury carmaker to deliver 50,000 vehicles by 2015.
Well, that’s less than half of what Porsche sells today. At the same time, it’s more than eight times the 6,159 cars Maserati shifted in 2011!
Well, according to Autonews, Marchionne will invest US$1.2 billion in Maserati and is counting on the Quattroporte flagship saloon, the upcoming smaller Ghibli sedan and the Levante SUV, as well as the 2,300-strong U.S. Chrysler dealership network, to help him achieve this target.
The all-new Quattroporte, which was driven by the press in Nice this week, is available with two twin-turbocharged engines at launch: a 404HP 3.0-liter V6 and a 523HP 3.8-liter V8, both built at Ferrari’s Maranello factory.
Priced from around €150,000 (US$193,000) in Europe, the new Quattroporte V8 will rival the €141,000 Porsche Panamera Turbo, according to the automaker.
While a Ferrari-built V6 or V8 may sound like music to prospective customers’ ears, some of them may baulk at the news that the new Quattroporte is built around a Chrysler 300-derived platform.
Then again, the Cayenne is a Porsche based on a VW, the Ghost is a Rolls-Royce based on a BMW, the Continental GT is a Bentley built on a VW (again...) and so on and so forth.
U.S. dealerships are not the only Chrysler asset Marchionne will use. Both the Quattroporte and the Ghibli, which will compete with cars like the BMW 5-Series and will also launch an Alfa Romeo variant, will use components from the 300 in order to reduce development costs.
Marchionne is hell-bent on making Maserati succeed in the U.S., to the point that he has delayed the launch of the new Fiat Punto because the investment needed may not yield the results it should in such a competitive segment amid a financial crisis.
Starting from 2013, Marchionne wants to shift at least 13,000 Quattroportes, up from a total of about 4,700 Maseratis sold in the first three quarters of this year.
According to the report from Autonews, IHS analyst firm estimates that Maserati will deliver 28,100 vehicles in 2015. That’s 44 percent less than Sergio’s target.
Euromonitor International analyst Neil King told the publication: “Maserati has the right reputation and consumers are out there for more premium cars, especially in the U.S. and China”, he said. “On the other hand, their target is incredibly ambitious.”
An understatement, if ever there was one.
In the meantime, you can view the first reviews of the brand-new Quattroporte in the videos that follow, courtesy of Dutch publications Autovisie and Autoweek, and Italy's Omniauto. Unfortunately, our understanding of the language is quite poor, so any readers willing to enlighten us with the verdict are more than welcome.
By Andrew Tsaousis
Story References: Autonews
16 Comments:
this is the most beautiful chrysler-imperial-maserati-ferarri i've ever seen.
Those are some ugly rims!
I wish Maserati would have pushed the design limits of the new Quatrroporte. Their cars are throaty loud - not a bad thing ,just all the time is a bit much. In this tier, I'd prefer an S8 or S63. Sadly this Quattroporte cover no new ground. I am interested in seeing their upcoming SUV - should give a Cayenne GTS a good run.
Subtitles? What subtitles?
Anyway, the success, or not, of Maserati in the US depends entirely on quality and reliability. Any car today has to be as bulletproof as the Germans (worse than people think) and everyone else. Which in the recent past was not what Maseratis were known for, to say the least. Another problem: Chrysler dealerships aren't the botiques that Lexus or Mercedes dealerships are, and Maseratis are expensive cars. They sell low budget American iron. Maybe expand those Fiat 500 stores?
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The problem with Maserati is simple - their design is stuck in the 1990's. And nobody wants to pay that much for a car that looks old from Day 1. Maserati should look at Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Jaguar, etc. They've all moved forward with their design. Maserati hasn't. All they've done is some changes to their headlights, but the overall shape and design doesn't differ a lot from.. let's say 1998 Maserati 3200 GT.
Werner..is Echt een topper..Ik luister graag naar zijn verhalen..AutoVisie heeft echt een topper in huis,
die ander gozer is een sukkel ...hij praat als hij in een race zit..
Wow, does it look ugly. And those wheels are the ugliness icing on the cake. It's absurd how the original Quattroporte looks way better than the new one. That really looks like a Maserati...this doesn't.
Ferrari maintenance without the performance? No thanks, especially with those headlights.
The main problem with Maserati (and italian sport cars in general) is that they are not for beginers, or "wannabe-enthusiasts".
When I see some comments about their infotainment systems, or any lack of gadgets and toys that japaneses and germans develop, I can just laugh.
It is the kind of thing that will never be a priority for a Petrol-head.
A real Petrol-head is interested in things like the behaviour of the steering system, the engine sound and revs, the powertrain architecture (engine behind front wheels...), etc.
But I got to admit that almost the whole world don't give a d... about it. Including the super-rich (but not super-cultured) costumer base.
The exterior design issue, actually, seems to be the chinese-market focus. All I can say is that it is by far not the nicest Maserati, but IMHO, it is at least better than the competition. The interior is absolutly elegant and, as far as we can see, well executed.
i was not very impressed at the beginning either, but the more i see the car, especially in different colours and on video the more i like it.
yes of course, it was built with a clear focus of the new markets, especially china..
and those clients have other tastes...so before judge the car, think what objective it has to fullfill.
BUT
i think, seeing all the reactions of the people who haven't driven one and will most likely never can effort one, i think their reaction is
simply gelousie and fear.
Fear, that they could have nailed it for the market. i wish them good luck.
The world deserve a "open your eyes, their is not such thing as german perfect cars".
for ex.:
they all have almost the same component deliverer for what ever you can possiblly think of..
amazing car i m loving it i want o purchase it.
best rims for sale
this IS NOT a maserati. its a CHRYSLER built in italy with the maserati name on it. the ferarri built chrysler engines, chrysler's new POWERNET electrical system (the infotainment system-A/C system) the platform, everything down to the 300's rear view mirrors. this is probably the best big italian car ever thanks to chrysler.
I read some wonderful reviews about the he 2014 Maserati Quattroporte is redesigned and will use a brand new platform developed by rescript and Ferrari specifically for this sedan and an forthcoming "baby Quattroporte.Thank's for share this.
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