What is the reason for a Maserati Hypercar?

They want to go from 5k cars to 15k cars per year. Having an flagship car bring a lot of exposure to the brand (Media is already talking about it..). For them, it will be a win-win. The Car will not cost a fortune to develop and will most likely sell out fast. It will also be in every car magazine and TV show. Not bad to bring more exposure to your brand.

Since i dont know much more about the car, i dont know if they will go racing again (Which also helps brand image).

 

In the case of the MC12, I reckon that the Ferrari/Maserati top brass (the two companies were tied back then) felt that in the Enzo they had a great machine with huge racing potential. As Ferrari was not willing to go GT racing though, they gave that honour to Maserati. That way the Trident marque blitzed the opposition at the tracks (recapturing some of its old fame) and also sold a few of those road cars that surely made a difference in its coffers. Win-win situation.

The new Maserati hypercar, if it happens, is a much more puzzling notion. Perhaps a cheaper LaFerrari alternative in order to amortise the development costs? Or just a wild rumour that will never materialise?

 

They want to make money.

I have no doubt they will make it a worthy replacement for the MC12.

Probably also they want to make a hyper car with no KERS just for the hell of it.

Plus it will keep the Maserati brand relevant.

 

because they can, basically!

why does mansory sell the ungawdly utter garbage they do? $$

 

Profit and brand awareness, small investment. Why not?

 

I come from a marketing background amongst other things. Ferrari has very valid reasons for making cars like the MC12.

Maserati is a separate brand, with an illustrious history, which is even longer than that of Ferrari's. Ferrari also invested a great deal of money and effort to own and rebuild the brand. It's real money. Doing cars like the MC12 in a slightly different way allows Ferrari to retain Maserati customers and attract others with price points and/or brand features not or cannot be offered by Ferrari products. Doing so also leverages their ability to lower costs on common facilities, staff, components and materials.

Ferrari is also part of Fiat and is also involved with the Alfa Romeo brand, in a similar manner but with different products.

From the marketing perspective, brands with strong brand recognition and high price points often need to compete with lower image brands offering cheaper upstart products. The high end brand cannot lower its prices because it erodes the brand so marketing people use what we call "fighting brands", a separate recognized brand or label that shares some of its parent's DNA but markets less expensive, less opulent products. This allows the parent brand to compete without discounting. It also allows it to capture young buyers of less expensive cars and to keep them as they upgrade, through the various brands in the Fiat family of vehicles.

Fiat has formidable brands. Cars like the MC12 lend credibility and brand separation when viewed next to Ferrari products. It essentially tells people that Maserati does deploy formidable technology but in different ways than Ferrari and at lower costs but they also do not feel like Ferraris and so do not compete directly with Ferrari. In fact, Ferrari customers may also want to own a GranTurismo and/or Quattroporte because they can't find products like that in the Ferrari line. Ditto with Alfa Romeo, Fiat and even Chrysler. I think Fiat is quite clever and potentially very formidable when it comes to its marketing arsenal.

 

I would add, and why the hell not.

 

yes ...I mean did the MC12 make 'better' sense than the Enzo somehow?!

 

agreed ....my humor there was subtle sarcasm

 

I hope car will be much lighter than laFerrari, no KERS, roadster

 

This basically sums up my thoughts.

In the short-term, I would imagine that they will lose money on this project.