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2024 Maserati GranTurismo reveals its evolutionary, still-sybaritic interior

After our own Ronan Glon visited Maserati HQ in Modena, Italy to view the 2024 GranTurismo, he wrote, "I can't tell you much about the interior; I saw it, but I'm sworn to automotive omerta until early 2023. What I can say is that Maserati went to significant lengths to make the GranTurismo a true four-seater, and a pair of average-sized adults should be relatively comfortable in the rear seats." The Italians have finally released images of the new GranTurismo interior, and while we're still waiting to have a proper seat in the coupe, we can't detect that any lies have been told.  For those who found the new car's exterior much more evolutionary than one would have expected from not just a rebooted car, but a rebooted brand, the interior also retains familiar cues. The steering wheel is the biggest departure from the past, the new helm looking more like something out of a Mercedes-AMG product. There's a new screen beneath the infotainment display in the center console that appears to be devoted to HVAC controls. And there's no shift lever anymore; paddle shifters do the work of changing cogs in the eight-speed automatic transmission fitted to the ICE-powered trims. Otherwise, the Maserati clock assumes its usual place atop the dash between vent registers, the instrument panel lines create a strong sense of dual cockpits, and the leather looks as sumptuous as ever. The automaker only provided galleries for two of the three trims to be released, the Modena and Trofeo. Both get the 3.0-liter Nettuno V6, which makes 490 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque in the Modena, 550 hp and 479 lb-ft in the Trofeo. The two variants are distinguished inside by details like different leather patterning on the instrument panel and seats, more vibrant cross-stitching in the Trofeo, and a black Start button in the Modena versus the blue Start button in the Trofeo. Outside, the Trofeo wears carbon fiber embellishments like the front intake surrounds, rocker panel extensions, and decklid spoiler. We don't have interior images of the battery-electric GranTurismo Folgore yet. It likely has other interior surprises for us. Maserati will begin delivering the new GranTurismo in the second quarter of 2023. Pricing will start at around $200,000.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

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.

Maserati Pelletessuta models bring their Italian fashion to the U.S.

Maserati's partnered with Italian fashion house Emenegildo Zegna for seven years, going back to the Maserati Quattroporte Ermenegildo Zegna Limited Edition Concept worked up as part of Maserati's centennary celebrations in 2014. At last year's New York Auto Show, the pair debuted the results of another collaboration, the new Pelletessuta woven leather interior. Working with hide as it would with yarn, Zegna wove thin strips of lightweight Napa fabric for 100 special edition vehicles that the Italian automaker pledged for the U.S. market and said it would never build again. After previews during Monterey Car Week in August, the 100 limited edition models have finally reached U.S. dealerships. Until they're sold out, the two models will stand here as the carmaker's fullest expression of Italian prowess. Meanwhile, in Italy, Maserati made a gesture towards its compatriots and its country by lighting the towers at its Modena headquarters in the three hues of il Tricolore, the Italian flag. There are 50 examples of the 2020 Quattroporte S Q4 GranLusso, which already comes with a Luxury Zegna Package interior compared to the entry-level Quattroporte. Each special model wears a custom Blu Sofisticato metallic paint with blue brake calipers. Inside, dark brown Pelletessuta interior includes sport seats for the front passengers and a Zegna badge to highlight the work. It's joined by 50 examples of the 2020 Levante S GranSport dressed in Bronzo Tri-Coat and 21-inch polished Helios rims, those wheels an inch larger than the standard units. The Levante interior gets tailored in black Pelletessuta fabric, accented with custom Radica wood trim — radica being a kind of veneer or parquet with a history in Italian luxury. The news about U.S. arrival didn't come with prices, though, so the interested will need to make the call to a dealer for information. Since the Quattroporte S Q4 GranLusso starts at $114,485 after destination and the Levante S GranSport at $91,985, those are good baselines to add to the required premiums for exclusive upgrades and low volume. Related Video: