2008 Maserati on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Uber adds supercar rides in Singapore

Order a ride through Uber and you'll have a choice between what kind of car you want or need: Uber Black for standard fare, Uber X for the lowest cost available, Uber Taxi to order a regular cab, Uber SUV if you need to move more people or even Uber Lux if you want a luxury town car service. But customers in Singapore now have another option: to be picked up in a Lamborghini or Maserati. The pilot program launched in collaboration with Dream Drive will allow customers to be picked up in either a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder or a Maserati GranTurismo to get around the Southeast Asian city-state. Ordering up the Maser will set customers back 165 Singapore Dollars (equivalent of $120 USD) for the first 15 minutes and 7 SGD ($5.10) for every subsequent minute. The Lambo gets the same per-minute rate but begs a higher 200 SGD ($146) base rate. Uber and Dream Drive were even offering free rides over the weekend to launch the initiative. Those prices make riding around in an Italian exotic pretty pricey, especially since you don't actually get to drive them – just ride shotgun. But then cars are quite expensive to begin with in Singapore, where it costs over half a million in US dollars to get a new Maserati in the first place. News Source: Uber via GTspirit.com Green Lamborghini Maserati Supercars Uber singapore

Maserati's new North American CEO is Chrysler's dealer guru

There's been a bit of a shakeup among the executive ranks at Chrysler and Maserati, as the Italian sports car manufacturer has appointed Peter Grady as its new North American CEO. Grady, who we imagine is about to get a very nice upgrade to his company car, will retain his role as vice president of dealer network development for Chrysler and Chrysler Capital, and is replacing Bob Graczyk at Maserati.
"It is with pleasure and anticipation that I welcome Peter to Maserati. He brings to our company nearly 30 years of leadership and experience. His background and industry expertise will be a great basis for the continued expansion of Maserati in North America," said Maserati CEO Harald Wester in a statement.
Also joining the team at Maserati is Saad Chehab, who previously worked for the Chrysler and Lancia brands and will be the new head of marketing for the Italian brand. He'll be replaced by Al Gardner, the former boss of Chrysler's southeast business center, as the head of Chrysler brand, according to Automotive News.

Why Italians are no longer buying supercars

Italy is the wound that continues to drain blood from the body financial of Italian supercar and sports car makers. The wound was opened by the country's various financial police who decided to get serious about superyacht-owning and supercar-driving tax cheats a few years ago, by noting their registrations and checking their incomes. When it was found that a rather high percentage of exotic toy owners had claimed a rather low annual income - certain business owners were found to be declaring less income than their employees - the owners began dumping their cars and prospective buyers declined to buy.
Car and Driver has a piece on how the initiative is hitting the home market the hardest. Lamborghini sold 1,302 cars worldwide in 2010, 1,602 cars in 2011 and 2,083 cars in 2012 - an excellent surge in just two years. In Italy, however, it's all about the ebb: in 2010, the year that Italian police began scouring harbors, Lamborghini sold 96 cars in Italy, the next year it sold 72, last year it sold just 60. The declines for Maserati and Ferrari are even more pronounced.
Head over to CD for the full story and the numbers. What might be most incredible isn't the cause and effect, but where the blame is being placed. A year ago the chairman of Italy's Federauto accused the government of "terrorizing potential clients," this year Luca di Montezemolo says what's happening has created "a hostile environment for ­luxury goods." Life at the top, it ain't easy.