Maserati ponders petrol Levante for Oz

It's been a given for many years that SUVs in Australia must offer a diesel drivetrain option to sell in any sort of numbers.

But the times may be changing, as Maserati's COO in Australia, Glen Sealey told motoring.com.au during the first local drive of the new Levante SUV earlier this week.

"I noticed in January diesel sales in SUV were down about six per cent, from memory," Sealey mused. "And petrol sales were up 14 per cent."

"January might be an aberration, but if that sort of trend continues we would have to look seriously at where we are in the marketplace."

There may be any number of reasons for that, including the success of the latest, petrol-only Mazda CX-9, or the on-going fascination with small SUVs, which are almost exclusively petrol-engined.

But if it's a trend that continues and builds in a broader context, there may be a chance for the Levante range to expand locally.

Asked what the tipping point would be for Maserati to consider petrol Levante variants for Australia, Sealey offered no percentage or sales statistic, but did say that in the right circumstances the local distributor would gladly expand the SUV range with petrol alternatives – particularly the V8 model that was confirmed to be under development for both left- and right-hand drive markets.

"We would need a significantly large proportion [of sales] to be petrol. That said we think we could have a good penetration [with] petrol, given the history of the brand. We know that our brand typically attracts people who like horsepower.

"The tipping point? I'm not sure, but if [the V8] was available tomorrow I'd happily have it..."

Sealey is almost certainly right in saying that there would be buyers in Australia for a V8 Levante, or the twin-turbo V6 available in other markets, due to the Maserati brand image as much as any other consideration.

In fact, it's the Maserati image that might make all the difference. Infiniti, a prestige brand lacking the iconic image of Maserati, sold fewer than 150 units of its aging QX70 model last year. In any typical year, only around five per cent of QX70 sales are the 5.0-litre V8 variant.

At some point in the future, Australian buyers may indeed get a petrol Levante – but in a classic case of being careful what you wish for, it may be a hybrid.

Legislation in Europe is driving manufacturers away from diesels, towards petrol/electric hybrids – and specifically plug-in hybrids too. As Sealey explained, the way a car is developed and configured is usually driven by consumer demand or government policy. If hybrids are the future – compelled by government policy, in other words – it would help if consumer demand were on side with that.

Therein lies the problem for any brand selling such cars in Australia. There's no government demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles as there is in Europe, and there's no real market demand for hybrids either.

"You've got to be careful you don't do everything for the government, and have consumers say 'no thanks'. There's got to be a balance," says Sealey.