Maserati to go PHEV
Levante to lead the way in 2017, Quattroporte and Ghibli to followMaserati boss Harald Wester has confirmed the ambitious Italian luxury brand will launch its first plug-in hybrid in the second half of 2017, incorporating the technology into the new Levante SUV.
But Wester, speaking at the Geneva motor show, also made it clear the PHEV technology would spread into the large Quattroporte saloon and mid-size Ghibli.
The Levante is due to be revealed at the end of this year with petrol and diesel engines. European deliveries start this year and US and Australian sales next year. Australian pricing is tipped to start above $120,000.
The PHEV version is expected to be a direct high-performance rival for the Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid, although details of the Maserati system and its outputs are yet to be revealed.
Maserati will build the Levante at the Mirafioro plant in Italy and it will share its fundamental architecture with the Quattroporte and Ghibli, which makes fitting the PHEV system across all three all the more logical.
Speaking to Italian media at the Geneva motor show this week, Wester said: "Our estimates tell us that between 2020 and 2025 at the global level the share of hybrid cars belonging to the Levante, Quattroporte and Ghibli segment will be between 40 and 50 per cent.
"In the second half of 2017 a hybrid Levante of the plug-in type will arrive."
The Levante will play a key role in Maserati's plan to drive sales from 15,400 in 2013 to 75,000 by 2018.
Also coming in the pipeline for the Fiat Chrysler Group-owned brand are the production version of the gorgeous Alfieri coupe in 2016, a convertible in 2017 and a replacement for the GranTurismo Coupe in 2018
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