Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has already revealed his medium-to-long-term plans about Maserati: the Italian luxury carmaker will soon have three new models in its dealerships and will increase its annual volume substantially.
Perhaps “exponentially” would be a more appropriate term. Last week, on the sidelines of the Geneva Motor Show, Maserati CEO Harald Wester told Automotive News that the sales target set for 2014 is 40,000 units, rising to between 55,000 and 60,000 a year later.
That’s almost ten times the brand’s worldwide deliveries of 6,159 units last year – a number which the company expects will be almost the same this year.
In order to accomplish this ambitious plan, Wester said that Maserati is already working on doubling its 250-strong dealer network. “We need a broader dealer body of about 500 dealers in place before our new models begin arriving on the market,” said Wester.
He added that most of the new dealerships will be added to the brand’s worldwide network “by the end of this year”.
The first new model that will grace Maserati’s showrooms will be the new Quattroporte that will premiere next January at the Detroit Motor Show and will be available in Europe in the first quarter of 2013.
Soon after launching its flagship sedan that is expected to cost around the same as today’s model starting from around €110,000 (US$150,000), the Trident brand will unveil its second model.
It will be a smaller, BMW 5-Series rival, which Marchionne has admitted will share some of its architecture with the Chrysler 300 but will have “a totally different suspension and Ferrari/Maserati engines”.
The premium E-segment sedan will cost around €55,000 (US$72,000) in Europe and will be revealed in the spring of 2013 before sales begin in the fall.
In two years’ time, we will see the production version of the Kubang luxury SUV that was unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. The Jeep-based, U.S. made crossover that has the Porsche Cayenne in its sights will hit the market in 2014, one year ahead of the current GranTurismo coupe replacement.
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