Two new Maserati sedans on the way, will get Chrysler and Ferrari touches
Chrysler Group LLC and Fiat SpA CEO Sergio Marchionne has a lot of ambition for the Maserati brand as he focuses on increasing sales of the brand from 5,675 last year to 50,00 units a year by the end of the decade.
How does he plan on doing that? First up, Maserati will start offering an SUV, a concept version of which will debut at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. The Maserati SUV will be build on the Jeep Grand Cherokee platform and will most likely be fitted with Chrysler Pentastar V6 as one of the engine options.
That won’t be the only Chrysler Group and Maserati mash-up. Maserati will reportedly borrow a bunch of systems and components from the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Avenger to create two new sedans that will replace the company’s Quattroporte flagship sedan.
While the Maserati Quattroporte is known to be too big to be a driver’s car and too small to be a proper chauffeur’s car, the new sedans will solve those issues.
At the end of next year, Maserati will add a sedan smaller than the Quattroporte. It will keep Maserati’s traditional layout of front longitudinal engine and rear-wheel-drive. The model will debut a revised 3.0 liter version of Chrysler’s 3.6 liter Pentastar V6. The engine will get Fiat’s MultiAir variable valve timing, twin turbochargers and direct injection – helping it pump out more than 400-hp. Prices will start somewhere around $79,000 and will go up to $101,000.
Following the baby-Quattroporte, Maserati will unveil a large and true replacement for the model in mid-2013. The larger sedan will be 2.5 inches longer than the current Quattroporte and 8.7 inches longer than the baby-Quattroporte.
Power will come from a revised version of Ferrari’s 4.7 liter V8 making around 475-hp. The engine will be mated to a ZF 8-speed transmission.
– By: Omar Rana
Source: Automotive News