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Maserati ramping up production of Ghibli, Quattroporte

While Porsche may be relatively new to the four-door game, Maserati has been building the Quattroporte with few interruptions since 1963. But like its rival from Stuttgart, the Trident marque is rapidly shifting from a sports car company primarily to a manufacturer of high-end family transportation. Not only does it have the new Quattroporte on the market, but now it's got the Ghibli sedan as well and the Levante crossover on its way.
It's a gambit that's reaping huge benefits not only for Maserati itself but also for its newly merged parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which is finding the mass market less lucrative than it once was and is positioning both Maserati and Alfa Romeo against other luxury marques like BMW, Audi and Porsche. As a result, Maserati is considerably expanding its production.
Last month, Maserati sold over 3,000 cars, putting it on track to double its sales from 2013. But it's not about to stop there. With growing demand for its authentically Italian luxury sedans, Maserati is shifting more workers to its assembly plant in the Turinese suburn of Grugliasco (where the QP and Ghibli are made) and shortening vacation time to ramp production up from 750 cars per week to 900.

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.

2022 Maserati Ghibli price of entry climbs to $77,695

Maserati announced the revamped Ghibli lineup in June, boiling down ten trims to four, but didn't announce pricing. The good have made their way to the Maserati configurator, so now we know how much more a 2022 Maserati will cost in relation to what came before. The big jump happens at the bottom, the previous base Ghibli becoming the 2022 Ghibli GT. The GT holds pat with the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 making 345 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. It also gets 18-inch alloy wheels and chrome accents outside, with leather "comfort" seats and Dark Mirror trim inside, and automaker spokesperson Kas Rigas told CarsDirect the GT gains some standard driver assistance tech, wireless charging and black painted brake calipers.   The price bump for the new name and goodies is $4,010, from $73,685 to $77,695 after the $1,495 destination charge.  Above that, the Ghibli Modena starts at $82,395, putting it $1,210 over the previous GranSport and GranLusso trims that came above the S and all-wheel drive S Q4. The Ghibli Modena features a 424-hp version of the V6 engine with 428 lb-ft., restyled bumpers with black inserts, 20-inch wheels and "wraparound" leather seats. Turning the front axles to get the all-wheel drive Modena Q4 adds $2,600, for a total of $84,995. The price of adding AWD has gone up by $100, and this is the only AWD trim in the range now after having three last year; however, the price of getting into an AWD Ghibli in an upper trim has gone down by $2,990. Last year, the lower-tier S Q4 cost $81,185, but the S Q4 GranLusso and GranSport ran $87,985. Finally, the 2022 Ghibli Trofeo starts at  $112,095, just $710 more than the 2021 Ghibli Trofeo. Just under that, and for a short time, is Ghibli F Tributo honoring Juan Manuel Fangio (pictured) with exclusive colors and a "very limited" production run. Based on a search at the Maserati U.S. web site, a Ghibli F Tributo starts at $100,385 if you shop in a place like Arizona, or $102,885 in a place like New York state. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.