Given everything we've been hearing about Stelantis and Maserati this is very believable. It's definitely worth a listen. I hope the Italian government gets Maserati grafted onto Ferrari again but why would Ferrari want that? There are a lot of inescapable facts in this video.
Considering that the ownership of Maserati seems to be recycling, (FIAT/Chrysler, Citroen,) everyone is praying that Ferrari gains control again. Is Geppi still in existence? Maybe Adolfo Orsi and Santiago DeTomaso can team up to run it!
Interesting but he misfired on the $1.5B investment critique. Most of that was for the electrification of the car line which is not in the cards now. I have no issue with Maserati being sold. The reality is that India already owns Jaguar and Range Rover. China buying Maserati would open the Chinese market to the brand. Ferrari does not need a low price Brand like Maserati to back up their offerings. That at least in my opinion .....would be a mistake as would Ferrari building EVs.
It would not be for Ferrari's benefit and I would think it would also include Alfa which would only be just since that's where Enzo got his start no?
The best thing that could happen is a re-merger with Ferrari as a co-brand, not an inferior brand. Maserati doesn't need to out perform Ferrari today, they need to be a luxury performance higher volume car company! Spyder + coupe Quatroporte SUV - start out small Supercar Forget about the EVs!!!!!!!!!! It is not going to happen. Maserati does not need to be in that category. Ferrari might actually need Maserati and they have the capacity! I don't think their current direction is viable.
If (and I stress if) Ferrari were to acquire Maserati, then Ferrari should make Maserati the EV segment of the Ferrari brand.
China owns MG. Has been making cars for years. they own Lotus too. Now selling a Chinese electric SUV in Europe.
Do not forget "Volvo" is also owned by a chinese company Some Europeans drive cars made by European manufacturers without even knowing that these vehicles were manufactured in China for the European market (BMW iX3, Citroën C5 X....)
Gawd that's ugly ... take universaly praised styling , ugly it up with busy graphics and hope sales will improve ... Maserati is clueless now.
I can't comment about the Alfa part of this as I've only done a deal test drive in one of those but for the last 6 days I rented and drove a 2023 Levante Modena with the higher HP V6. I can now say I get all the criticism about the Chrysler switch gear but that criticism is inadequately analyzed and misfocuses on the real problem. It's an absolutely botched attempt to graft the Chrysler running electronics onto what is an otherwise OK automobile. There are other Maserati only things that just plain suck. I put on only 400 miles, all in town driving in an admittedly ugly driving environment, Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. The sooner Maserati puts that integration in the dumpster the better. But frankly, their demonstrated lake of ability to make that system work with those platforms has me wondering if they even know how to design a modern automobile's electronics for things like AC, audio, steering wheel and HVAC. Sorry but you need to be able to do this, not just the chassis, drive train and engine.
The Chinese are not ready to buy them either. Some middle east billionaire will end up with them, I think. Stellantis s-cks!!
let’’s be accurate this is a result of Auburn Hills and Chrysler. To be blunt Marchionne did not study his history, for if he did he would have realized that both Maserati and Alfa teamed up with Chrysler in the late 80s early 90s that resulted in both brands pulling out of North America
european I have been around enough years to watch the Italian industry go through many faces, mostly a downward spiral, and nowadays, Italian brands are more of a uniplatform production line than standalone manufacturers. It all started with Innocenti and Autobianchi, Lancia followed, then Alfa Romeo took the hit and was forced to collaborate with Nissan (of all brands) and even Fiat and Ferrari were once fed by the government’s tit with taxpayer money for many years. Maserati after the 80s was always the lesser child that no matter how hard it tried, the parents always favoured the rest. Then Stellantis came and made things worse. Fiat from producing eleven models went down to two (500 and Panda), Lancia shut down, (except some pathetic Ypsilon that nobody buys whatever stock is left), Alfa Romeo production from five sedans, a coupe and a convertible was downsized to three SUV’s and a sedan and Maserati had to share platforms with Alfa and allegedly a Ferrari designed engine for their top models. Let’s face it, the reason they killed Lancia was that it was a competitor to Alfa, the reason they shut down Autobianchi and Innocenti was that Fiat existed and was a well known brand in Europe. Having Ferrari as the top brand and Alfa as the “sportier” upper class maker, Maserati does not fit in the plan. Ferrari competes with Lamborghini, Alfa with Audi and BMW, Fiat with its two models is no threat to Peugeot, Citroen and whatever small models they produce, so how can one justify the existence of Maserati unless they become the special operations vehicles and either be a lesser Ferrari or a better Alfa. Or get sold to someone. Visited their showroom to check their new models, was told that a bespoke paint costs € 32.000 and an extra 12.000€ for leather. Really? € 44.000 for leather and paint for a car that will depreciate right after the purchase more than yesterdays newspaper left in the rain? Dont get me wrong I love Maserati, had the old 422 when new and regretted this purchase every single day but kept it for five years. But who in their right mind will put his wallet on the table (in Europe) and say go ahead take my money with all these Audi’s, Porsches and even BMW’s as an alternative? unless you lease. That’s another story. It is not a “heart” decision. Its calculation.
as an FYI in-the USA a majority of upscale brands are leased. When I was doing Maseratis it was 90% lease.
IMO tariffs will be the end of Maserati, Fiat, and Alfa in America. They are barely hanging on now. That means that any potential buyer is going to pay a lot less without the US market.
it makes sense period if you must have a new car. You buy things that appreciate, you rent or lease things that depreciate. All cars depreciate (except some Ferraris)
a deal will be struck on tariffs probably related to low volume manufacturers, which Maserati definitely is right now. Which in a way is probably good for them. Another possible positive is that it’s going to be Georgia Melloni’s relationship with Trump and Musk that’s will strike the deal, meaning that Elkan and Stellantis will own her which hopefully will keep the brands out if the hands of the Chinese and hopefully remaining Italian.