Maserati Levante - SUV (Spy)

[Matteo B.]

Comunque, purtroppo, un SUV Maserati ci sta per le vendite, per il mercato, e anche per l'immagine.

sono d'accordo per le vendite, meno per l'immagine..una marchio veramente nobile &sportivo (cito a caso Maserati, Porsche,AstonMartin, Ferrari, Bentley ecc..) a fare SUV incasserà soldi ma si sputtana.....

[Martin Venator]

Veramente per la gente che può spendere, salvo le solite minoranze, un marchio si sputtana se i SUV non li fa.

[arrigo]

Forse questa notizia è gia in un altro thread?

SM conferma Maserati SUV

Chrysler to Offer a Maserati SUV in 2013 - WSJ.com

WSJ: Marchionne confirms Grand Cherokee-based Maserati SUV to be built in MI — Autoblog

LOS ANGELES—Chrysler Group LLC, which is trying to turn itself around with the help of its partner Fiat SpA, has plans to cooperate with the Italian company's super-luxury brand Maserati.

In 2013, Chrysler will begin producing a premium sport-utility vehicle to be sold as a Maserati in markets around the world, according to Sergio Marchionne, who serves as chief executive of both Chrysler and Fiat.

The Maserati vehicle will be made from the underpinnings of Chrysler's new Jeep Grand Cherokee and be assembled at its Jefferson North assembly plant in Detroit, Mr. Marchionne said in an interview at the Los Angeles auto show.

"This is just a great architecture," Mr. Marchionne said. "Why wouldn't I put a Maserati on it?"

The plan signals a broadening of the cooperation between Chrysler and Fiat, which has management control of the American auto maker and owns 20% of its stock.

Under Mr. Marchionne's turnaround plan for Chrysler, the company is preparing to launch a series of small cars based on vehicles developed by Fiat. It will also produce Fiat models that will be sold in the U.S., and help return Fiat's Alfa Romeo brand to the U.S. market.

A few Chrysler models are also supposed to be sold outside of North America under Fiat's Lancia brand. The first will be the redesigned Chrysler 200 midsized sedan, Mr. Marchionne said.

Cooperation between Chrysler and Maserati would add a new dimension to the ties between the U.S. auto maker and Fiat at a time when Chrysler is starting preparations for a possible public offering of stock in 2011.

On Friday, the Obama administration's auto czar, Ron Bloom, said it is unclear if the company will be ready for an IPO next year. But he added that "the company is on a good trajectory."

Mr. Bloom also said Mr. Marchionne briefs U.S. Treasury officials once or twice a month and gives notice on major decisions. The U.S. government financed Chrysler's restructuring in bankruptcy court last year, and is a minority shareholder in the auto maker.

Chrysler reported a net loss of $84 million for the third quarter but made money on an operating basis. Mr. Bloom said Chrysler's financial performance has bested expectations and efforts to rejuvenate the company's product line—considered a critical weakness—appear to be going well.

"Our view on Chrysler at the moment is so far so good," Mr. Bloom said in an interview.

The Maserati will be built alongside the Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango, possibly creating the need to hire workers for a third shift at the Chrysler plant, Mr. Marchionne said.

Maserati, which was acquired by Fiat in 1993, is known for luxury sport sedans and sells such models as the Quattroporte along with the GranTurismo coupe and convertible. Maserari models start at $118,000, well above the Grand Cherokee's starting price of $30,000.

Mr. Marchionne first hinted at using the the Grand Cherokee architecture to produce other vehicles during a conference call earlier this month.

"It would certainly give us a unique opportunity to try and use all the amount of work that's gone on inside Chrysler," he said in a conference call to discuss Chrysler's third-quarter results. The basic architecture of the Grand Cherokee is "capable of supporting the content of a much higher-priced brand as Alfa or Maserati."

Remember the last time Chrysler and Maserati collaborated? It was the late '80s, the car was called the Chrysler TC by Maserati,and it didn't go nearly as well as the men in charge of the project had hoped. Now, 25 years later, Sergio Marchionne heads both companies and he wants to try another tryst. It will again be a Maserati body on a Chrysler platform, this time a Maserati SUV on the Jeep Grand Cherokee's underpinnings. The vehicle has actually been rumored for some time now, with earlier reports suggesting that the off-road Maser is likely to receive Ferrari power, but this is the first time we've heard such clear and concrete talk from a high-ranking official like Marchionne.

Marchionne has confirmed the vehicle's arrival to The Wall Street Journal, going so far as to say, "This is just a great architecture. Why wouldn't I put a Maserati on it?" To be fair, the same platform does duty under the Mercedes M-Class, which is built in Alabama, and that line runs in price all the way up to the $92,590 M63 AMG so there's no reason it won't suit a properly engineered Maserati.

Yet while the TC by Maserati was built in Milan with hand-finished bodies, this SUV will apparently be produced on the same line as the Jeep and Dodge Durango in Chrysler's Jefferson North plant in Detroit. No date has been mentioned for when it will appear, nor do we have any idea of what it will look like. But if it truly sticks to Maserati values – other than the part about being made in Italy – it will probably compete with the Porsche Cayenne, Range Rover and Mercedes G-Class

[Uomo dell'Ovest]

Veramente per la gente che può spendere, salvo le solite minoranze, un marchio si sputtana se i SUV non li fa.

Anche secondo me. Il suv ha ormai raggiunto uno status symbol tale da poter migliorare l'immagine di ogni casa. Nessuna esclusa! Tranne che per i verdi e per pochi nostalgici.

[erFreddo]

secondo me Maserati deve avere una gamma che ricalchi quella di Jaguar....e per fortuna a Coventry non si parla di suv

[Nick for Speed]

Purtroppo quelli che possono spendere non hanno buon gusto, se il SUV è diventato uno status symbol... che gusti orridi!

[Uomo dell'Ovest]

Purtroppo quelli che possono spendere non hanno buon gusto, se il SUV è diventato uno status symbol... che gusti orridi!

E chi l'ha detto che non abbiano buon gusto e che abbiano gusti orridi?

[nicogiraldi]

bah.... la base grandd cherokee mi pare buona, ma decisamente poco "stradista/sportiva" per maserati.

[Edolo]

Purtroppo quelli che possono spendere non hanno buon gusto, se il SUV è diventato uno status symbol... che gusti orridi!

Sono d'accordo con te sulla tristezza di prendere un SUV come auto di lusso, non altrettanto d'accordo col fatto che chi può spendere non abbia buon gusto, soprattutto se tiriamo in ballo le cifre su cui si aggirano i modelli Maserati: chi prende X6 e Cayenne ad un iso-Kubang da 120mila euro non ci arriva. IMHO a quelle cifre siamo oltre il concetto di status symbol. Per la stessa ragione, pur condividendo la scelta di entrare in quella nicchia, non sono sicuro che l'operazione si riveli redditizia.

[poliziottesco]

secondo me Maserati deve avere una gamma che ricalchi quella di Jaguar....e per fortuna a Coventry non si parla di suv

senza entrare nel merito della discussione maserati e suv di lusso, a coventry non si parla di SUV perche' hanno gia' chi in famiglia produce qualcosa (anche se a dire il vero roba molto piu' seria dei SUV tout court)