a lusty Italian
this morning but he may wish to lift his gaze from £1,000 Alfas towards more exotic Latin fare.
When Maserati announced it planned to be selling 50,000 cars a year by 2015 off the back of unveiling the new Quattroporte in 2013 eyebrows were raised. Just a couple of years back Maserati was selling fewer cars than Ferrari, the latter's production deliberately capped to around 7,000 per year as part of Luca di Montezemolo's policy of maintaining exclusivity to maximise profit.
Centenary edition GranTurismo just launched
Maserati has a different plan though; it's chasing volume and sees the Quattroporte and Ghibli as the means of achieving it. And the plan would seem to be working, 2013 seeing a 148 per cent increase in sales to 15,400 cars with boasts of advance orders of 13,000 cars apiece for both Quattroporte and
Ghibli
by the close of 2013. GranTurismo and GranCabrio sales apparently remain steady and just shy of 5,000 units per year.
Suitably emboldened is Maserati going to give the green light to the Alfieri concept unveiled to pretty much universal acclaim at Geneva earlier in the year? 4WheelsNews would appear to think so, reporting a 331 per cent increase in US sales alone for the first quarter of 2014 and extra shifts at the Maserati factory to meet demand for Quattroportes and Ghiblis.
And wouldn't the Alfieri sit nicely in that range, while also positioning the brand in the heartland of rivals like the 911 and F-Type... Given Maserati and Jaguar are chasing a similar goal of offering a more emotive alternative to the dominant Germans you'd have to say it's the latter who'll have the most food for thought, given sales last year of 76,668. Indeed, an emboldened Maserati, flushed with centenary pride and with a production Alfieri and the long-promised SUV could present a serious rearguard threat.
We'll leave that to the suits though. Right now we just like the idea of a production Alfieri!
