Maserati has remained quiet since it released the Levante — its first and only SUV — in 2016. The company emerged from its silence to announce it’s cooking a batch of electrified, tech-packed luxury cars that will be ready in the early 2020s.
It will put its ambitious plan into action when it releases a gasoline-electric variant of the Ghibli, its entry-level sedan, in 2020. Made in Turin, the model will be its first hybrid, but technical specifications remain a closely guarded secret for the time being. We know the Ghibli will also receive additional updates, including visual tweaks and improved in-car tech.
Next, Maserati again confirmed it will release an electric sports car previewed by the Alfieri concept. Don’t worry if that name doesn’t ring a bell; the design study was first presented during the 2014 edition of the Geneva auto show, and its path toward production has been convoluted, to say the least. In an earlier presentation, the Italian firm announced the Alfieri would also be available with a gasoline-burning engine for motorists not interested in going electric.
The production version of the Alfieri concept will sit at the top of the Maserati range, but it won’t replace the Gran Turismo. The coupe, which was introduced during the second Bush administration, will stick around until its successor arrives in 2021, and its convertible off-shoot will be replaced in 2022. Electrification will figure on the specifications sheet, but we’re hoping both models also keep their sonorous V8 engine as an alternative.
Two-door sports cars are awesome to look at and to drive, but they don’t generate the kind of volume needed to keep an ambitious carmaker like Maserati afloat. Even Porsche couldn’t survive without four-door models like the Macan and the Cayenne. That’s why the Italian firm will expand its range of SUVs with a second model that will slot under the aforementioned Levante. Expect to see the model in 2021 at the latest. It, too, will be electrified to some degree.
Electrification is only one of the areas Maserati is investing in. The company is also spending a tremendous amount of money to add more driving aids to its cars. Levels 2 and 3 automated driving technologies will be available on most of the models it’s planning to release in the coming years. Full autonomy remains years away, however.
Maserati pledged to make its new models in its home country in Italy rather than outsourcing production abroad. This strategy is made possible by parent company Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), which recently announced plans to invest 5 billion euros (about $5.4 billion at the current conversion rate) into its Italian operation.
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