Wenge Wood Leather Steering Cuoio Carpets Sensors Silver Neptune Wheels Mint! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Maserati special editions celebrate the end of the V8 at Goodwood

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is ready to cheer anything with pretensions to velocity, equally respectful to new hooligans trying to seize the day and veterans that have had theirs. Maserati's brought both to the 'sceptered isle, sometimes demonstrated in the same body. The house of the trident will start shutting down V8 production next year, bringing an end to 64 years of eight-cylinder Maseratis going back to the 5000 GT of 1959. The Ghibli 334 Ultima and Levante V8 Ultima special editions commemorate the sunset, both powered by the departing twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 making 572 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque. The sedan gets the "334" designation of its top speed in kilometers per hour, known as 206.3 mph in non-metric lands. That's three miles per hour more than the Ghibli Trofeo's top speed as shown on Maserati's retail U.S. site. Performance and aero updates include a new carbon fiber spoiler, special tires made from a new compound, and 21-inch Orione wheels. The sprint to 62 miles per hour drops from 4.3 seconds to 3.9. The automaker calls this car the "current fastest internal combustion engine sedan in the world," and it's going to climb the Goodwood hill. Each special edition gets 103 examples. Maserati hasn't discussed regional allotments nor how to make a reservation. The rest of the Italian showcase in Lord March's back yard revolves around the new. The GrandTurismo Trofeo with a Nettuno V6 will be there, the 542-hp V6 stepping further out of the shadow of the V8. The battery-electric GranTurismo Folgore takes a bow as well, as does the Grecale Folgore. Artsy types will want a look at the GranTurismo Prisma, a one-off based on the Nettuno-powered GranTurismo Trofeo. Revealed a few months ago, this tips a cap to 75 years of the automaker. Artists hand-painted the body with 14 colors that nod to classic Maserati hues, then hand-painted the names of classic models like the Indy, Mistral, and Amaranto, applying more than 8,500 individual characters. Finally, a GranTurismo Folgore and an MC20 Cielo will join the Ghilbli 334 Ultima making a run up the hill. The MC20 Cielo is returning for a second run after a debut jaunt last year.

Stellantis ready to kill brands and fix U.S. problems, CEO Tavares says

  MILAN — Stellantis is taking steps to fix weak margins and high inventory at its U.S. operations and will not hesitate to axe underperforming brands in its sprawling portfolio, its chief executive Carlos Tavares said on Thursday. The warning for lossmaking brands is a turnaround for Tavares, who has maintained since Stellantis was created in 2021 from the merger of Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA that all of its 14 brands including Maserati, Fiat, Peugeot and Jeep have a future. "If they don't make money, we'll shut them down," Carlos Tavares told reporters after the world's No. 4 automaker delivered worse-than-expected first-half results, sending its shares down as much as 10%. "We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money." The automaker now also considers China's Leapmotor as its 15th brand, after it agreed to a broad cooperation with the group. Stellantis does not release figures for individual brands, except for Maserati which reported an 82 million euro adjusted operating loss in the first half. Some analysts say Maserati could possibly be a target for a sale by Stellantis, while other brands such as Lancia or DS might be at risk of being scrapped given their marginal contribution to the group's overall sales. Stellantis' Milan-listed shares were down as much as 12.5% on Thursday, hitting their lowest since August 2023. That brings the loss for the year so far to 22%, making them the worst performer among the major European automakers. Few automotive brands have been killed off since General Motors ditched the unprofitable Saturn and Pontiac during a U.S. government-led bankruptcy in the global financial crisis in 2008. Tavares is under pressure to revive flagging margins and sales and cut inventory in the United States as Stellantis bets on the launch of 20 new models this year which it hopes will boost profitability. Recent poor results from global carmakers have heightened worries about a weakening outlook for sales across major markets such as the U.S., whilst they also juggle an expensive transition to electric vehicles and growing competition from cheaper Chinese rivals. Japan's Nissan Motor saw first-quarter profit almost completely wiped out on Thursday and slashed its annual outlook, as deep discounting in the United States shredded its margins. Tavares said he would be working through the summer with his U.S. team on how to improve performance and cut inventory.

Mid-engined, 621-horsepower MC20 inaugurates a new era for Maserati

No longer embedded in the gap separating Alfa Romeo and Ferrari, Maserati is preparing to give its range of models an overhaul that's so comprehensive it merits its own chapter in the firm's history. The first car in this installment isn't a volume-generating crossover or a politically correct electric car (though, fear not, both are coming soon). It's a mid-engined, 621-horsepower coupe designed with an unabashed focus on performance. Called MC20, it will join a segment dominated by Lamborghini, McLaren, and former sister company Ferrari. Maserati explained developing the MC20 took about two years thanks in part to software-based simulation testing that saves the firm a significant amount of time and money. 97% of dynamic tests were performed using simulator designed in-house, and engineers then fine-tuned the car by testing it in real-world road and track conditions around the world. Lap times were extremely important, because the MC20 was built to race. We'll need to wait to find out where it will compete, and what it will look like in full racing regalia. Maserati has only unveiled the street-legal variant, which wears a low-mounted oval grille, swept-back headlights, and triangle-shaped rear lights. All of the brand's defining characteristics are accounted for, and stylists intentionally weaved a handful of subtle references to the MC12 built in 2004 and 2005 into the design. Viewed from the side, it wears the typical proportions we expect from a mid-engined supercar. It upholds Italy's well-earned reputation for creating poster-worthy supercars that blur the line between transportation and art Da Vinci would be proud of. Slightly bigger in person than in photos, the 3,306-pound MC20 stretches 184 inches from end to end, 77 inches wide and 48 inches tall. Its cargo capacity checks in at 1.8 cubic feet in the frunk and 3.5 cubes in the trunk. For context, the 3,423-pound Lamborghini Huracan measures 176, 76 and 46, respectively. And, for another mid-engined point of reference, the 2,943-pound Porsche 718 Cayman measures 172, 71 and 51, respectively.  Maserati chose not to give the MC20 active aerodynamic components, though the coupe depends on a small, neatly integrated rear spoiler for downforce, and it relied extensively on carbon fiber to keep weight in check. It also installed butterfly doors, but they're more functional than their made-for-Instagram flair suggests.