Maserati goes quiet on Alfieri

Maserati is deflecting questions on both its 911-rivalling Alfieri and its much trumpeted later decade sales target of 75,000 units per annum.

At least that’s the conclusion we’ve drawn following brand boss Harald Wester’s refusal to confirm timetables for Maserati’s new sportscar and the company’s sales targets.

Two months after Maserati revealed its stunning Alfieri super-coupe at the 2014 Geneva motor show, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles boss Sergio Marchonne outlined his five-year plan for the company.

In it, he promised a six-model Maserati family by 2018, when the Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans, the all-new Levante SUV, all-new Alfieri coupe and cabriolet and a replacement for the GranTurismo would reap annual global sales of 75,000.

Although exact model timings were vague, Maserati's business plan and senior executives indicated the Alfieri – its first direct rival for the Porsche 911 – would be released as early as this year, followed by the convertible version in 2017 and the new GranTurismo in 2018.

“I sincerely can’t say that we’ll see this car in production in two years’ time, but I’m certain we’ll see something very similar," said project leader Lorenzo Ramaciotti at Geneva in 2014.

Now, two years later at the 2016 Geneva show, Maserati chief Harald Wester refused to answer questions about the Alfieri, design work on which began in mid-2013 at Maserati Centro Stile in Turin.

"I don't know. I need to talk to my people," said Wester when asked if the Alfieri project was running to schedule.

Asked if the Alfieri will be launched next year, he said: "No comment".

When pressed on when we'll see the production Alfieri, Wester suggested that replacements for the GranTurismo and GranCabrio would appear next from Maserati.

"The next one will be substitution of GranTursimo, GranCabrio by successors.

“We already had discussion about Alfieri and I don't want to go into details," he said.

Asked is the GranCabrio's replacement would again be a four-seat convertible based on the new GranTurismo, rather than an open-top version of the two-seat Alfieri coupe as Maserati previously indicated, he said: "We never disclosed details of the convertible.

"We always said we have Ghibli, Quattroporte, Levante, sports car, grand tourer and a convertible. We never told anybody whether the convertible is two, or 2+2 or four-seat car. I've no intention to tell you.

"At this point my personal opinion is I think we talk too much about the future. Nobody else does, so I confirm what we said, that's it. You guys are just too curious."

Wester said Maserati was still committed to reaching 75,000 annual global sales, but wouldn't say when.

"I don't know. I don't care whether it gets there in [20]17, or 18 or January of 19.

"What I care about is that it gets there protecting what it stands for.

“If we go there because we are outselling some of our products trying to compete with our rivals even in the premium segment, [then] I disagree."

Wester said Maserati's near-term plan to sell 50,000 vehicles (up from 32,500 global sales last year) will be achieved in 2017 — two years later than forecast after the Levante was switched from a Jeep platform to Maserati's own, delaying production until last month.

"Our 50,000 volume forecasts were always dependent on the SUV.

“In 2011 we said Levante would be late 2013 in the US and we would have availability fully by 2014 or 2015.

"At the end of long discussions we decided to abandon the pan. We shifted Levante to Italy, we needed a new factory and it was also obvious due to the shift, we needed to review styling.

"That led to the current start of production in 2016. It will give us a boost this year. I expect this number to grow significantly beyond last year.

"With full availability of Levante in 2016 -- because the ramp-up is not like a mass producer -- with full availability of all versions, in all markets we will have in 2017, the 50,000 target will be for sure achieved in 2017."

Maserati sold less than 600 cars in Australia last year and its forecast of 1000 local sales was also predicated on the Levante — first deliveries of which are scheduled to take place late this year. The brand expects around 1500 sales once all variants of the renewed model range are available here.

Wester said there is "no risk" that Maserati's first SUV will dilute the century-old Italian sports car brand, which is now effectively Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' 'new Ferrari' following the sale of the Prancing Horse brand.

"SUV is the only $US50,000-plus luxury segment growing," he said.

"These type of cars account for 540,000 to 550,000 out of 1.1 million – SUV is as big as everything else together. That gives you an answer how important this product is.

"The only thing where all researchers more or less have a common consensus is that SUV segments will further grow – small ones and big ones.

"In a world of 90 million scars there is no risk at all. That 50,000 out of 90 million – that is a drop in the ocean. It is parts per million, not percentages. The brand has room [to grow], but to get there in a natural way. [We will] Never violate this."

In other future model news, Wester did not rule out the possibility Maserati could apply the Mistrale name to a V8 version of the Ghibli, which would rival the BMW M5, and a more powerful Quattroporte V8. But he denied it would have anything to do with allowing Audi to use the Q2 and Q4 names.

"Q2, Q4 are proprietary names of Alfa and Maserati," he said.

"There was a request from VW Group to help them out of a dilemma for the extension of the Q series of Audi, so we allowed them to use in the future Q2 and Q4 for potentially new crossover models of the Audi range.

"They can do this but we will not give up our Q2 and Q4 names.

"The only owner of the Mistrale name I think is a surfboard company, it's nothing to do with VW."

Asked if Maserati has investigated the Mistrale name for its potential use as a performance sub-brand, he said: "No, not yet."