Car Guy Reports from Modena

....thanks for the inside look Frank. Still sunny in Seattle!

~Ciao and best

 

Hi Frank,

Can you share any news about the new DeTomaso factory/cars?

Ciao,
George

 

Hi Frank,

So sad to hear about the passing of Mr. Campana. This photo is one of my favorite from our visit last year. He truly was a lady's man.

You are absolutely right about about Hotel CanalGrande and the upcoming 10 best days for your tour participants.

Wish we were there!

Jim Smith
"Lucky Tour"
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Tell them to take a swipe at the Fiat royal committee so they can allow Maserati to make a real sports car again. God knows they have the knowledge with the absolutely astonishing record the MC12 has.........

 

Frank,
the MC12 will (!) hold its value! Time will tell...

IMO Maserati needs a smaller car as an opponent between (powerwise!) the BMW M3, Porsche Boxter (or 911?) and the new Ferrari "Italia". A smaller 2-seater with attractive styling by Pininfarina, as a coupe or/an a Spyder! A car that is close to the FErrari - but bevore that happens Osama Bin Laden will cut his beard!

Instead Maserati plans to bring out a M5 contender! But who needs such car? It will be more expensive than the M5 but affect the sales of the upcoming Quattroporte VI!

The new Quattroporte VI should come out in V8- and V12 specs and the car would be a runner in the showrooms of the boom-countries like China! For sure the V12 is not coming thanks to the efforts of Ferrari....!

Its still the same - Maserati (as most of the Italian automotive industry) lacks a good marketing and a sense for positioning their producs!

Ciao!
Walter

 

From a business perspective, I understand their Lutz style product line and tier campaign between the brands. Maserati is currently Fiat's Buick with Ferrari remaining the Cadillac. I have never agreed with this since Detomaso started doing this in the 80s. It feels like a more reliable and better-built biturbo era all over.

What Maserati has proven is they know how to build one of the most successful - if not the most successful (not to mention Maser's most successful racer ever)- GT1 racers of all time, which to me says Fiat can afford to reimagine Maserati's future in their arrangement of brands rather than market and sell Maserati as something lesser to their crown jewel. The MC12 is clearly Maserati's new springboard just as the 250f was their previous.

Using this springboard is key:

Fiat's current loser is their lack of marketing and celebrating on such a fantastically successful sport car contender. Manufacturing a serious diet Maserati MC12 that slots in the mid-engined sportscar -not halo supercar- market is a natural path after such racing success. A small mid-engine V6 slotted in the Lotus Evora or Porsche 911 price-point is key. Ferrari no longer has a car in the Porsche 911 price-point, and keep in mind Ferrari's now lowest end car is $250k making a huge gap between Maser at $125k. Enter Maserati with a proper sports car contender, not this GT they had a few years ago.

Costs for the V6 could be controlled by recruiting the V6 unit from a current or future Alfa- designed by Maserati. A joint-venture for the model-line could be had by utilizing the V6 as the Alfa workhorse by recruiting the unit for a number of applications. This worked well for Honda with the NSX engine. I am painting very large strokes here and this change is not only a Ferrari/Maserati butting heads issue, but a company-wide overhaul of product lines specifically for vehicles headed to the US market with the new Chrysler dealer network they now have to work with. I am not suggesting the Maser be sold from the Chrysler dealer network, only that the drivelines be a company supported unit rather than Maserati's current reliance on Ferrari's boutique units which are clearly more expensive to manufacture.

Build it, run it around the 'ring in under 8 minutes and put it in top video games and you have a clear winner and generational assurance.

This keeps Ferrari as Ferrari, and makes Maserati their competitor to Porsche and the like. The QP competes directly with the Panamera as-is, but the current GT doesn't strike me as a competitor to a Bentley buyer or M5 buyer making its current slot and price-point confusing and somewhat directionless. That being said, it's a fantastic car albeit a confused one.

-J

 

John - You're Hired!

Ciao,
George

 

Are these Italians or employees from other counties???

 

Panamera & QP? One is ugly the other is beautiful. One optioned properly goes like hell and the other doesn't. I just don't see the equivalence.

As for the GT, why does it HAVE to match up so directly?

So you're thinking Maserati should have today's equivalent of the Dino?

Bob S.

 

Many - both here at Ferrarichat and at ************ - have pointed to the need for a smaller, lighter sports Maserati, perhaps with mid-engine; in other words, a Merak for the 2010s.

Such a car would not compete directly with the current Ferrari line-up, nor necessarily hurt sales of the current Maserati GTs much.

A smaller and lighter car would also be better positioned in terms of future demands regarding reduced energy comsuption, tighter emission regulations, introduction of alternative power systems +++

Cheers,
Gabriel

 

Precisely. Ferrari's current paradigm is a front engine V12 supercar, a mid-engine V8 supercar, and the occasional halo car. The dino was designed for the specific purpose of taking Porsche head-to-head and now Ferrari has left this structure for an all supercar and extremely expensive line. They are no longer really competing with Porsche other than on the track.

With something proper, Maserati can fill this price-point. The obvious problem is something like this may become too popular and take away from Ferrari, who IMO, is geared up to build far too many cars annually then they should be. As a side note, I recall Motezemolo in the late 90s stating Ferrari would never want to manufacture more than 4000 cars a year......... Gone with the wind that is as they are geared to crank out 4x that amount now.

 

Another great point. Emissions especially is a growing concern and they all have to accommodate such standards

 

They match in the fact that they are both traditionally sports car companies manufacturing proper 4-seat luxury cars. While both can be alternatives to BMW 7 series or Mercedes S-class, I don't see how either the Porsche or Maser can be quantified with their German counterparts. The public perception of the brands is that of a luxury car manufacturer and that of a sports car manufacturer. It's not to say all of them aren't doing a fantastic job as the are all fabulous cars.

 

Hi Frank,

It would seem that based on all your good memories dealing with Alejandro, his values and approach to doing business are still well and alive in the new company! It's always sad to see perceived/real potential go to waste.

Ciao,
George

 

Price points ?? ...my… my how very quaint… let’s keep in mind who is missing “one” Alfieri…he did make one huge differencé !

Paul

 

Finally someone sheds a little light on Mr. DeTomaso. He was no genius either.

 

It is called Sloanism, see Alfred Sloan Chairman of GM (1937 - 1956).

Joe

 

Lake Como, how beautiful. One of these days my wife and I will have to make that trip. Maybe, with the famous Car Guys Tour. I hear from good sources it is the way to go!

Ciao,
George

 

Maserati has never built a production sports car, they build Grand Touring cars. As a car company Maserati is more in the tradition of Jaguar than any other company.

Joe