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Maserati Quattroporte custom-built wagon up for sale

These days, any modern station wagon is a rare machine, with models such as the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Volvo V90, Audi RS6 Avant, and Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo selling not much more than a handful each. But combine the rarity of the wagon body style with the relative obscurity of the Maserati Quattroporte, and you have a truly unique longroof. That's exactly what you see here, a Maserati Quattroporte shooting brake, and it's coming up for sale by Historics Auctioneers in the U.K. Maserati never made a wagon version of its Quattroporte — "Cinqueporte"? — but that didn't stop one determined U.K. buyer. Inspired by the Quattroporte-based Bellagio Fastback, four of which were built by the Italian coachbuilder Touring, he had this 2016 Quattroporte converted into a shooting brake. The work was carried out by British high-end car restorer Adam Redding. The result looks like it could have come out of the factory in Modena. It's finished in Gunmetal Grey Metallic with 20-inch Mercurio alloy wheels with a black finish. The interior is Nero leather. There are no jump seats in the cargo hold, just luggage space, which again appears finished to a factory standard and is accessed via a power liftgate. Other features include navigation, parking sensors, heated seats, a backup camera, and a sunroof. As a U.K. car, this Maserati is right-hand drive. The Quattroporte's voluptuous styling lends itself to the wagon form. Too bad Maserati is unlikely ever to pick up the baton and offer such a model itself. Short of commissioning one yourself, this upcoming auction is likely to be the only chance to get one. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Maserati reorganizes, tries to sharpen the trident

When's the last time we posted on a run of comprehensive success at Alfa Romeo or Maserati? True, Maserati nearly tripled its U.S. sales from 4,768 in 2013 to 12,942 in 2014. However, the brand's been stuck around that number ever since, selling 13,711 units in 2017. Worse, those figures highlight how far Maserati has fallen behind its own goals. In the last five-year plan, the brand targeted 75,000 global sales this year — then downgraded the target to 50,000 in June this year. At 26,400 units through the first nine months of 2018, short of Poseidon surfacing to work some deus ex machina, even that reduced goal won't be met. New Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley is working to give Maserati the leaders and support it needs to point the trident in the right direction. On an analyst call at the end of October, Manley said, "With hindsight, when we put Maserati and Alfa together, it did two things. Firstly, it reduced the focus on Maserati the brand. Secondly, Maserati was treated for a period of time almost as if it were a mass market brand, which it isn't and shouldn't be treated that way." In October 2016, FCA named Reid Bigland to head Alfa Romeo and Maserati; this was back when Alfa Romeo dreamed of selling 400,000 cars annually by 2018. When Manley named his new executive teams last month, after assuming the CEO post following Sergio Marchionne's death in July, Manley separated Alfa Romeo and Maserati. Tim Kuniskis, who had taken over from Bigland, now heads Alfa Romeo and Jeep. Manley then restored Harald Wester to the head of Maserati. Wester ran Maserati from 2008 to 2016, after which he became FCA's chief technology officer, a role he maintains in the latest shuffle. Wester poached Jean-Philippe Leloup from Ferrari. LeLoup ran Ferrari's Central and Eastern European business operations; he now heads a concern called Maserati Commercial. Al Gardner, head of Maserati's North American dealer network since 2015, keeps that role and takes over as head of Maserati North America. Maserati has favorable brand value, but the leadership will confront almost every other problem a brand can have. Half the automaker's sales come from China, and the economic slowdown there is a serious drain on the numbers. In Europe, the WLTP emissions protocol, bloated inventories, and the need for incentives have dulled the edge. Sales worldwide are down 26 percent this year.

Dealer sues Maserati for fabricating sales numbers

A Maserati dealer with stores in New York, New Jersey, and Florida is suing Maserati North America for allegedly requesting that they inflate sales or receive lower incentives. The plaintiff in this case refused to participate and claims that it unfairly lost profits as a result, according to Automotive News. The lawsuit hinges on a request from FCA that its dealers move vehicles into their test-drive fleet, a practice called punching them. Most stores keep at least one example of each model in their demonstrator fleet. While they don't immediately go to a customer, a punched vehicle appears as a sale for an automaker at the end of the month. This case alleges that Maserati North America told its dealers in September 2014 to punch 2015 Ghiblis, even though the sedans hadn't been delivered yet. As a result, the Italian automaker was able to post an additional 105 sales for the month. Furthermore, the stores purportedly received additional bonuses when they later sold these models to customers, and there was possibly another request to claim vehicles as demonstrators in December 2014, Automotive News reports. Amid rapidly growing global demand, Maserati increased Ghibli and Quattroporte production to 900 cars per week in mid-2014. However, the company had to reverse course in 2015 and cut back shifts at its Grugliasco factory. The launch of the upcoming Levante crossover is expected to bring another boost.