Maserati Resurrects Ghibli Name for New Mid-Size Sports Sedan, Uses Levante for SUV [Updated]

On the occasion of the Mondial de l’Automobile 2012 in Paris, where Maserati is introducing the new GranCabrio MC, the Italian sports car manufacturer announced the names for two of its upcoming models.

The first concerns Maserati’s new mid-size luxury sedan that will sit under the next Quattroporte and which brings back to life the Ghibli nameplate that has been used two times in the past, for the 1963-1973 two-seater GT in coupe and convertible forms, and again from 1992 to 1997 for a four seater coupe.

The new Ghibli will offer Maserati a more direct rival to cars like the BMW M5 and 6-Series Grand Coupe, and the Mercedes-Benz CLS.

The other model that was named today is the production version of the Kubang SUV Concept, which will be called Levante, as in “Via Emilia Levante” in Bologna, where the Maserati brothers, almost a century ago, created the company that bears their name.

“Considering that Levante will be marketed in 2014, the year Maserati will celebrate its Centennial, it seems a proper name and, in many ways, a bridge to Maserati’s future,” the automaker said in a statement.

Update: A previous version of this article wrongly stated that the Quattroporte will be renamed to Ghibli, which is not the case, as Maserati will continue to use the Quattroporte moniker for its next generation flagship sedan.

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