RE: Frankfurt: Maserati SUV

[phugleigh]

for some reason "Alfa Romeo Arna" came to mind......
dunno why...

i'm sure the jeep and masser are mighty fine cars, and I do lust for versions of both.

e.g. masser quattroporte and those chrome side vents... yum yum ...
Jeep -- got to be one of those mork and mindy things with lots of spot lights and beach appeal.

[secretagentbloke]

the rate he must be spinning in his grave, if you linked a KERS system to Alberto Ascari, you could make enough charge to power a whole electronic fleet of these..........

[Carnnoisseur]

ZeeTacoe said:

Esseesse said:

herebebeasties said:

This would do fine.

Now that looks quite good.

Yup, now where talking.........

[tedzwedz]

thewheelman said:

So.....Maserati can make ugly cars too.

haha have you ever seen a 1980s BiTurbo original Maserati.. fugly.. but strangely appealing too..!

[JohnGoodridge]

Oddly ambivalent about this one. Maser's only ruined if they can't sell enough cars to turn a profit, so good on em I say.

[xspencex]

The Cayenne although generaly unpopular gave Porsche a new lease of life, allowing them to continue and build fantastic sports cars. . .I'm pretty sure this will have the same effect for Maserati. This should sell by the bucket load in the US, Asia and Middle East. . .I think it will be great, and its a heck of lot better looking that a lot of SUV's out there!

[Fire99]

It is what it is, to be honest..

Another fairly generic 4x4 SUV thing that could have any badge from Germany to Korea on it.

It's not awful, it's not wonderful. It's just a thing. Sad for Maserati to be making a 'thing' though.

[DS240]

For what it is, I think it is alright. Bit Audi- like in the lines on the rear tailgate though.

Looks very production ready also.

Probably will sell well in the right markets.

[Stu R]

I love it, but this is PH, so it's inevitably going to get tarred with a certain brush.

[Beyond Rational]

Ferrari engined jeep? Sometimes an unhappy merger

[RadQuinn]

I think it looks pretty nice, but horribly unimpressed with their idea to follow in step.

[ermoalfa]

Personally I think it looks quite nice although I'm not too pleased about Maserati launching an SUV.

I know they are keen on competing with the Porker in this sector particularly in the USA where trucks and SUVs are the best selling vehicles by far and would expand the beachfront they have started.

Luckily it should be easy to make a model which is better looking than the Cayenne!

[fwaggie]

Very "meh".

But I'm happy they are making it, and that it will sell, as it'll bring in money for Maserati and let them carry on making nice cars (as well as this thing)

Oh, and peak output power is mostly meaningless in something like this, I bet the 6.4 SRT has a much broader spread of torque and is more relaxed to drive.

[Fetchez la vache]

EDLT said:

In before "purists" cry that Maserati is now "ruined" even though they have never and will never buy a new one.

Quite. I'm another that would never buy one (almost did years back but that's not good enough).. in the same way that it worked for pork, I really hope it works for Maserati. If this is the means by which they can continue to make great cars then so be it.

Much prefer that other rendering though! Where's that from? Someone's bedroom?

herebebeasties said:

[ChipsAndCheese]

Hideous. I've got no problems with them releasing an SUV - I think it fits in with the current Maserati image than the Cayenne did with Porsche when that was released - but that design is just hideous. IMO, the current Cayenne looks much better.

Edited by ChipsAndCheese on Wednesday 14th September 10:38

[cosdog]

I feel a great deal of love for Maserati, and rarely set a foor wrong in the styling department (*couch Biturbo cough*). I have to admit this looks a bit more interesting than most Germanic offerings, and in my estimation (visually at least) it slots in at second place behind the Range Rovers (I kinda like the new baby one). Not bad for an SUV.

Some will say that its heresy, which is inevitable when manufacturers of a certain pedigree produce things outside of their acceptd field. However, instead of despairing at Maserati I despair at the world, wor wanting such SUV monstrocities in the first place. If the demand wasn't there, none of these would be made. So, a rebadged Jeep for 3 times the price is all that this market deserves. I sincerely hope that this will make Maserati a good chunk of money and that it allows them to gain a share of the american market. Hopefully some of the money that this thing will generate can be put reinvested in the development of gorgeous offerings like the Gran Turismo.

[soxboy]

Can't see the problem myself. Porsche have been cleaning up with the Cayenne in the Middle East and Russia, but more importantly in the emerging markets of China and India. China is (or soon will be) a bigger car market than the USA, while India is (or again soon will be) a bigger market than Europe.

Maserati have been bankrupt a number of times over the last 40 years and it is a miracle they have made it this far. Us little people in Europe with perhaps less than 1500 sales of Maserati sports cars each year are small fry in the grand scheme of things. If this is the car that makes them stronger and ensures that the Quattroporte and GranSport keep getting produced I'm all for it.

[Alfa numeric]

I'm stunned. I hate the Cayenne and the Q7 but I actually like this. Maserati have a heritage of producing saloons so an SUV isn't that far outside their normal territory. The only thing that worries me is the underpinnings- being based on a Jeep doesn't bode well for the handling.

Or am I being unfair?

[Vocal Minority]

It's official.

Nothing is sacred

[cosdog]

Alfa numeric said:

The only thing that worries me is the underpinnings- being based on a Jeep doesn't bode well for the handling.

Its an SUV, so the handling was ruined from the outset.