NEWS
Critical mass for Maserati
Dealer expansion in Australia reflects growing popularity of prestige brandMaserati's surge in sales volumes around the world has led to unexpected outcomes, both here and abroad.
Demand for the Quattroporte in China has hit 40 per cent of the car's global production, where the majority of that sum has been sold to business women under 35 years of age, according to a spokesman for EAI (European Automotive Imports), the local distributor for the brand.
That sales surge has caught the manufacturer by surprise, and has pushed back the launch of the Quattroporte – and more recently that car's diesel variant – in Australia.
But in anticipation of local sales volumes of around 1500 by the end of 2016, the brand's Aussie dealer network is in expansion mode. Existing dealerships are extending their facilities and increasing resources for the big sales push, and the network is growing too, with Zagame behind a new dealership in Melbourne and McCarroll's opening a new Maserati showroom in North Sydney.
There are plans afoot for a new dealer in south-east Queensland, to take advantage of the local arrival of the Levante SUV in 2016. There's a stand-alone dealer in Adelaide, effective from late last year, and the land of the long white cloud is not immune either, with an Auckland dealer opening its doors this year. Staffing levels have doubled at the wholesaler too, with what the spokesman describes as a "massive training program for technical staff" in progress.
We have previously covered off the product roll-out announced by Sergio Marchionne, but in addition to the Ghibli, Levante (due here in 2016), the Alfieri two-seat sports car pictured (with a convertible version due two years later) and replacements for the GranTurismo and GranCabrio, Maserati will reportedly flesh out the range with a 540hp V8 version of the Ghibli also.
All of which will play a part in Marchionne's plan to be building 75,000 cars per annum by the end of the five-year plan in 2018.
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Written byKen Gratton
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If the price does not contain the notation that it is "Drive Away", the price may not include additional costs, such as stamp duty and other government charges.
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