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Stellantis says it has no intention of selling Maserati

  Stellantis has no intention of selling its luxury vehicle business Maserati or aggregating the unit with other Italian luxury groups, the Jeep maker said on Tuesday. "Stellantis restates unwavering commitment to Maserati's bright future as the unique luxury brand of the 14 Stellantis brands," the carmaker said in a statement, while also reaffirming commitment to its entire portfolio. Carlos Tavares, the Netherlands-based automaker's chief, warned last week that if the company's loss-making brands "don't make money, we'll shut them down". The comments came after Stellantis delivered worse-than-expected results for the first half. The Chrysler-parent does not release figures for individual brands, except for Maserati, which reported an adjusted operating loss of 82 million euros for the first half of the year. Some analysts had previously noted that Maserati could possibly be a target for a sale by Stellantis, which the company's chief financial officer did not rule out, 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.

Maserati confirms the Grecale SUV will get a high-performance version

Maserati will parachute its second SUV, the Grecale, into territory controlled by the Porsche Macan. It hasn't unveiled the model yet, but it has already confirmed a fire-breathing high-performance variant is in the pipeline. "We will have a Trofeo version of [the Grecale], we will have a Modena version of that. We will have a GT version," revealed William Peffer, the CEO of Maserati's North American division, in an interview with The Drive. While he stopped short of revealing specifications, Maserati saves the Trofeo name for its quickest and most powerful models. As of writing, all of its cars with the exception of the MC20 are available in Trofeo tune. They're powered by a twin-turbocharged, 3.8-liter V8 engine — even the smaller Ghibli — and they gain a number of chassis tweaks as well as several model-specific styling cues. We expect the Grecale will get a similar treatment. One ingredient of the traditional Trofeo recipe that the Grecale might not be cooked with is the V8. It's an older engine, and we're not sure that an eight-cylinder fits in the engine bay. Rumors claim the model will ride on an evolution of the Giorgio platform that Alfa Romeo's Stelvio and Giulia are built on, so the top engine might be a V6. Maserati is nearly done fine-tuning the Grecale. It will unveil the model in November 2021, and sales will start in time for the 2022 model year. Additional details about the firm's next SUV will emerge in the coming months. Related Video This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2019 Maserati Levante GTS has a 550-hp Ferrari-derived V8

A V6-powered Maserati Levante just wasn't enough. At least that's what a group of engineers thought as they formed a sort of skunkworks and secretly set out to see if they could fit the Ferrari-derived V8 from the Quattroporte GTS into the Levante. Turns out they could, and after revealing their project to company honchos, were given the green light for not just one V8-powered Levante, but two. The first to be revealed was the Levante Trofeo shown at the New York Auto Show. Now we get this, the Levante GTS, which was revealed last month to journalists in Pontiac, Mich., and kept under wraps until now. It will debut in Europe at Goodwood. Although the GTS shares the same 3.8-liter V8 as the 590-horsepower Trofeo, it features a slightly less prodigious output of 550 hp with peak torque of 538 pound-feet available from 2,500 rpm to 5,000. Maserati says the GTS will hit 60 mph in 4 seconds with a top speed of 181 mph. View 8 Photos The chassis was tuned to better handle the extra power, and while the suspension shares the same components as the rest of the Levante line, the tuning was changed for the GTS and Trofeo. The Sport Skyhook adaptive damping system was also retuned, while the air springs feature six different height levels spanning a total of 3 inches from its lowest to highest position. A rear-biased all-wheel-drive system and a rear limited-slip differential are included. These mechanical updates are largely shared with the Trofeo, which differs visually and features extra luxury equipment. Outside, the GTS features a larger lower air dam, a special black-trimmed grille and 22-inch wheels. Inside, there's a full-leather interior package and carbon fiber trim. That includes the shift paddles, which are carbon fiber rather than metal. Maserati models also receive some updates for the new model year. The eight-speed ZF automatic gets a new electronic shifter. Similar in layout to BMW's (forward for R, rearward for D, push button for Park), it replaces the previous Chrysler-sourced PRND layout. It's similar to what you'd find in a current Alfa Romeo but the shifter itself is more luxurious and substantial in feel and appearance. The infotainment system has been refreshed, but remains a Chrysler Uconnect system in Italian clothing. There's also new optional "Pieno Fiore" leather for all three models, Levante, Ghibli and Quattroporte. It is available in red, black and tan.