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Maserati Chief Harald Wester Wants Cars with Soul

[h=1]Maserati Chief Harald Wester Wants Cars with Soul[/h] By Eric Weiner

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Jan 15, 2015 Tags:

Aside from the occasional passersby stopping to ogle the Alfieri concept which first debuted at Geneva, things were quiet at the Maserati stand during the 2015 Detroit auto show. But there are plenty of wheels turning behind the scenes at Maserati, a company which saw its sales increase 136 percent from 2013 to 2014 globally, 110 percent in the U.S. alone. Maserati’s growth in the entry-level segment with the Ghibli and soon-to-arrive Levante SUV will be echoed on the top end of the price spectrum with a production version of the Alfieri, as well as a next-generation GranTurismo. For a closer look at the rapid changes happening within the Italian automaker, we sat down with Maserati head Harald Wester.

AUTOMOBILE: Have you noticed the new Maserati Ghibli in particular getting more people turned on to Maserati and into other vehicles?

Harald Wester: Yes. Compare a brand like Maserati to something which starts just below $70,000. It’s a real alternative to competitors, and if that’s not a temptation, what is one?

AUTOMOBILE: In that competitive market, what do you think buyers see in Maserati that they don’t see elsewhere? What’s bringing them in? Is it something based in the heritage?

HW: No, I think it’s less sophisticated than that. Look at the impact of the class, the elegance, the sound. Driving the other cars is like wearing a uniform. Who cares? Nobody sees you. If you come into your luxury high end neighborhood with your new black BMW, Mercedes or Audi, you’ll need to raise a flag to let people know.

AUTOMOBILE: How does Maserati accomplish that? What’s the common vein through its products?

HW: Doing everything differently, because it doesn’t make sense not to. There’s a huge portion in this business where it’s more complicated because these uniforms, from the guys I mentioned earlier, are damn good uniforms. Close to perfect pieces of engineering. Good for us they have no soul. They’re f***ing boring. They don’t transmit anything.

AUTOMOBILE: Where does Maserati’s soul come from?

HW: From a kind of adorable imperfection. From how it smells, how it feels. And adorable imperfection has nothing to do with non-quality. Ask your wife. Do you have a wife?

AUTOMOBILE: No.

HW: Lucky guy.

AUTOMOBILE: No girlfriend either.

HW: No girlfriend? That’s bad. Well, industrially produced products like handbags, they’re square, every stitch is just like the other, right? With a handcrafted product you see it, you hear it, you can smell it, you can touch it. Our dashboards are leather-wrapped. Imagine I bring you a regular dashboard in your garage, along with a piece of leather, and you wrap it. If it’s an industrialized process where you apply the leather with a tool, they all end up looking the same.

AUTOMOBILE: Is it difficult to build up that handcrafted quality to the larger scales Maserati is targeting?

HW: It is. It’s difficult because at the end of the day it’s a thin line which separates this adorable handcrafted imperfection from non-quality.

AUTOMOBILE: How does Maserati see itself within the larger Fiat-Chrysler umbrella, particularly with the rise of another Italian brand in Alfa Romeo?

HW: A totally different story. There are three totally different brands separated by volumes which differ by an order of magnitude. Ferrari is 7,000 units, Maserati is 70,000, and Alfa we define by a volume of 400,000-420,000 units. Ferrari starts at $200,000, Maserati is between $70,000 and over $145,000, and for Alfa there will be some overlap with the entry level Maseratis. But for the time being I don’t see a $150,000 Alfa Romeo. Premium is Alfa. Luxury is Maserati. Supercars are Ferrari. In my head there is no confusion at all. Different customers, different targets, different brands, different products, different industrial realities.

AUTOMOBILE: Can you see the same quality for a $150,000 top-of-the-line Maserati trickling down to the bigger volume models like Levante and Ghibli?

HW: Yes, absolutely. It’s all the same.

AUTOMOBILE: Have you seen the volume and the interest you projected for Ghibli. Is it going well?

HW: Yes. This year, for the first year of full availability, I am sure we could have done better. And our objective is to further increase. But we are quite happy.

AUTOMOBILE: How big of a story is Levante going to be?

HW: We expect it to be at least as big as Ghibli, if not bigger. Product-wise it will be positioned somewhere above Ghibli. I’m excited.

See all 12 photos

AUTOMOBILE: Can you envision a family household with a Levante on one side of the garage and maybe a GranTurismo on the other?

HW: Perfect! Is there a third space in this garage? How about an Alfieri coupe? Or convertible? That would be great.

AUTOMOBILE: Anything else on your mind for next year as far as products or sales goals?

HW: A lot. But I will not share.

Read more: Maserati Chief Harald Wester Wants Cars with Soul

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[Regazzoni]

HW: Ask your wife. Do you have a wife?

AUTOMOBILE: No.

HW: Lucky guy.

AUTOMOBILE: No girlfriend either.

HW: No girlfriend? That’s bad.

[pennellotref]

E poi dicono che i tedeschi non fanno ridere........

[Regazzoni]

Dalle slide della presentazione dell'Investors Day FCA di ieri.

_______________________

Nuovi modelli lanciati entro fine 2016.

[Tecno78]

sbaglio o il levante ha fari differenti in questa foto rispetto alla kubang? vabè mi faccio troppi viaggi. Ottima la conferma della alfieri!

[pennellotref]

Execs pleased as ?exotics? gain traction as daily drivers | Toronto Star

We spoke with the three executives at the Toronto auto show, talking about their recent growth and asking about plans for the future.“Less than 18 months ago Maserati was selling 6,200 cars (globally, annually), and we finished the year selling 36,500 cars,” said Chehab. “And at the same time, we’ve had improvements in quality and residual and resale value, which has always been an issue for (exotic) brands.” The company has won the ALG Residual Value Awards Canada in the Premium Executive Car category, for the Quattroporte.

“To me, that’s a big honour versus just saying we’re selling a lot of cars,” said Chehab. “We’re no longer just a car company that only builds exotic cars, but also cars for daily, practical, dependability purposes (with) . . . the exotic flavour and design.”

Chehab also says “approachable pricing” is drawing consumer attention, with potential buyers then discovering the value they get for what they spend.

For instance, the base price of the company’s Ghibli is $84,800; a Ghibli S Q4 (base price $94,150), Chehab suggests, “to me is the best money can buy in any vehicle. You’re talking about a Ferrari engine, an 8-speed ZF transmission that you will see in any of the best competitors vehicles, paddle shifting, 404 horsepower, that signature sound, all-wheel drive.”

“It’s an amazing combination . . . at the price of a normal luxury car, that every other neighbour has, but now you have something special.”

The Toronto auto show was the Canadian debut of Maserati’s newest sports car, the Alfieri Concept, built to celebrate to company’s 100th anniversary. It pays homage to the A6GCS Berlinetta sports car from 1954. Maserati hopes it will reinforce their sports car heritage and pedigree in racing, and is planning to bring it to market in 2016 or early 2017.

Maserati expects to make further inroads in Canada with the introduction of its new SUV, the Levante.

“In cold countries such as Canada I think consumers will be attracted to our SUV. And also the realization that Maseratis are all-wheel drive.” Not a lot of Canadians know that, Chehab said. “We have a brand new introduction of all-wheel drive vehicles both on the Quattroporte and Ghibli. Once people realize this, we think there will be even more traction in Canada.”

[reckoner00]

Maserati plans plug-in hybrids in 2017

Maserati will launch its first plug-in hybrid models in the second half of 2017 - but the company boss believes the push towards the technology is misguided as a result of government legislation.

Confirming that hybrid versions of the Quattroporte, Ghibli and upcoming Levante SUV were inevitable, Maserati boss Harald Wester said to Autocar at the 2015 Geneva motor show: "I have serious doubts about what we are doing. How can it be right that a 2000kg high-end luxury car is rated at 70g/km when a small diesel supermini is rated at 90g/km?

"We're neglecting the wheel-to-well energy balance, but as a car company we are being put in a position we don't want to be in. We are shifting issuing from the cities to somewhere else - we are doing anything but save the planet."

Other manufacturers already offer plug-in hybrids, with Porscheselling part-electric versions of both the Panamera and the Cayenne.Audi has revealed its Q7 e-tron at the Geneva show.

Maserati plans plug-in hybrids in 2017 | Autocar

[J-Gian]

Mega applauso

[_hainz]

Sull'ibrido non condivido in quanto Wester ragiona solo in termini di CO2 limitate al solo wheel-to-well per il mix di produzione energetica di oggi, tra l'altro dimenticando completamente CO,HC, NOx e PM10. Come sapete non sto sostenendo assolutamente che l'elettrico sia la soluzione (anzi), ma che l'ibrido plug-in permetterebbe di limitare i consumi ma soprattutto di limitare fortemente le emissioni non menzionate da Wester che per di più sono cancerogenere (a differenza della CO2).

[J-Gian]

Sull'ibrido non condivido in quanto Wester ragiona solo in termini di CO2 limitate al solo wheel-to-well per il mix di produzione energetica di oggi, tra l'altro dimenticando completamente CO,HC, NOx e PM10. Come sapete non sto sostenendo assolutamente che l'elettrico sia la soluzione (anzi), ma che l'ibrido plug-in permetterebbe di limitare i consumi ma soprattutto di limitare fortemente le emissioni non menzionate da Wester che per di più sono cancerogenere (a differenza della CO2).

Io credo che Wester puntasse il dito contro il metodo per calcolare le emssioni di CO2 applicato alle auto plug-in, che è molto (molto!) più ridicolo del tradizionale metodo di misurazione dei consumi sulle auto normali

Il risultato è che al dichiarato le plug-in abbattono enormemente le emissioni di CO2, quindi a conti fatti fanno molto comodo alle case che producono modelli performanti, visto che abbassano la media.

Nel concreto:

- Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid: 416 CV e 71 g/km di CO2;

- Volvo V60 D6 Plug-in Hybrid AWD: 283 CV e 48 g/km di CO2;

- Porsche 918 Spyder 2014: 887 CV e 79–70 (non so perché 2 valori) g/km di CO2... Siamo seri per favore: meno di una citycar!

E parliamo di pochissime auto, peraltro molto prestanti, per pochi e che non andranno a migliorare la salute del pianeta.

Capisco pertanto quando Wester dice che questo non è il vero modo per risolvere i problemi ambientali, ma solo il nascondere la spazzatura sotto un (costoso e complicato) tappeto