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2024 Maserati GranTurismo revealed, twin-turbo V6 or 750-hp EV: 'We're going to let buyers decide'

Maserati is in the midst of a renaissance; it's branching out into new segments with cars like the MC20 and the Grecale. While it's counting on these models to widen its target audience, it's not forgetting about its existing customers and the cars that brought them to the brand. The new, second-generation GranTurismo is a blank-sheet redesign that's evolutionary where it counts and revolutionary where it needs to be. First, the elephant in the room: this is a big, luxurious coupe launched in an era when big, luxurious coupes are disappearing at an alarming rate. What's the point? Min Byung Yoon, Maserati's lead exterior designer, explained the grand tourer (a fast, upscale car designed to quickly and effortlessly drive across a country) is one of the pillars that the company's image is built on, and keeping this tradition alive is important. Customers care more about image and usability than tradition, however, so the new GranTurismo receives several important updates. Maserati will offer the GranTurismo in three different flavors: Modena, Trofeo and Folgore. The first two use a version of the excellent 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 inaugurated by the MC20 and also found in the Grecale. Known as the Nettuno engine internally, it develops 490 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque in the Modena, figures that increase to 550 and 479, respectively, in the Trofeo. It's bolted to an eight-speed automatic transmission in both applications, and it spins the four wheels — the original GranTurismo was rear-wheel-drive. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Andrea Baccino, the chief engineer for the Italian firm's electric powertrains, told me that making all-wheel drive standard across the range is a way to expand the GranTurismo's usability. It's now a viable year-round driver, even if you live somewhere in rural Vermont. The system is rear-biased but variable: it can send up to 100% of the engine's torque to the rear wheels or split it 50/50 between the front and rear axles. The V6 is front-mid-mounted to achieve a 52/48 front-rear weight distribution, and the GranTurismo weighs around 3,957 pounds, which is surprisingly low considering it's not exactly nimble: it measures about 195 inches long, 77 inches wide and 53 inches tall. Hitting 62 mph from a stop takes 3.9 seconds in the Modena and 3.5 seconds in the Trofeo, and top speed checks in at 187 mph and 198 mph, respectively.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom leads this month's list of discounts

Every month, we take a look at vehicle sales data in America to pick out the vehicles with the largest monetary discount. Usually, the list is dominated by high-performance two-door luxury sports cars. This month is different. Much to our surprise, the 2020 Rolls-Royce Phantom stands above all others with an average discount of $18,588 off the price quoted on its window sticker. Now, it bears mentioning that an $18,000-plus discount still only represents 3.46% of its $537,500 average retail price, and that the resulting $518,912 cost to drive off the showroom floor still makes the Phantom an extremely expensive range-topping luxury sedan. Still, even very wealthy people won't snicker at that kind of savings. Up next is another unlikely newcomer to the biggest-discount chart: the 2020 Porsche Taycan. The electric super sedan's average sticker price of $152,250 is cut to $135,707 after a discount of $16,453 is lopped off. That represents a savings of nearly 11%. We can't say how many of the Taycan's buyers over the last month will be able to claim tax rebates due to the Taycan's status as an electric vehicle, but that could potentially represent a further cut off the car's sticker. Rounding out the top three is the 2020 Maserati Quattroporte. Buyers of this Italian luxury sedan are saving an average of $13,839 for an average transaction price of $87,646. We normally only share the top three, but this month's list is interesting enough that we'll share some more. In fourth and fifth place are the 2020 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (with an average $13,239 discount) and the 2021 BMW 7 Series (with an average $12,435 discount) followed by the 2020 Rolls-Royce Wraith — interestingly enough also with a savings of 3.46% — and the 2020 Maserati Levante and Ghibli. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Maserati to halt production for one week in November

When it comes to selling cars, exciting new product is king. This is a fact Maserati is learning the hard way as it struggles to hit aggressive internal sales targets set by its Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ownership. And now a report from Reuters indicates that Maserati will be forced to shutter its Grugliasco plant near Turin, Italy, for one full week in November. Rewind back to 2013 and things were looking really good at Maserati. The brand had rolled out a new version of its four-door flagship, the Quattroporte, a smaller and somewhat more accessible sedan one rung below in the form of the Ghibli, and a new line of twin-turbo engines in both six- and eight-cylinder guises. A sales spike seemed imminent. That's exactly what appeared in 2014, as Maserati topped our end-of-the-year sales chart with a monster 171-percent gain in the United States when compared to the year prior. Like we said, product is king. The first signs of trouble brewing at Maserati rose into our consciousness in January of 2015, as, here in the States, the Italian brand took a monster nosedive in sales. That month's 20-percent decline would prove no anomaly, as February's 43-percent decline would attest. For the next few months of 2015, sales remained basically flat as allegations of shady sales accounting practices hit the news. In September, the last month sales data is available, the brand saw a drop of nearly 34 percent. How does Maserati expect to fix its lagging sales? Exciting new product, naturally, this time in the form of the long-awaited, highly anticipated Levante crossover. While Maserati's history is full of grand-touring coupes and four-door sedans, CUVs are all the rage right now. In other words, as long as the Levante isn't terrible, it really ought to bring the brand's sales back to 2014 levels. Following the Levante, Maserati has promised a new coupe based on the design of the Alfieri Concept it showed off at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, and that will surely bring another hefty dose foot traffic into showrooms as the next product wave. FCA is banking on turning Maserati from a niche player into a meaningful contributor to its sales chart. If that plan has any hope of turning into a reality, it's clearly going to take a lot more shiny new product to make it happen. Here's hoping the Levante is the next positive step in that direction. Related Video: