What's happening with the next generation Maserati Coupe/Spyder?

I've said it before, as long as Maserati is within the FIAT/Ferrari family, it will never be allowed to be developed into a true seroius contender.

 

Crap.
Maserati is a very powerful brand image, and if they start making sh*t cars that are cheap, it's going to loose that image, and crash hard. Whether you like it or not, presitige is a big part of Maserati owner's deciding factor on the car, and it's also noticeable, because from experience, I've found that 80% of people think my father's GranSport costed atleast $180k+...I've heard people think Maserati's cost $350k. But then again, I live in Texas, where it's dusty flats, tumbleweed, and everyone is issued a 12-guage upon arrival.

Please, if they are going to make a cheap model, sell it as an AlfaRomeo, Alfa doesn't have a brand image to loose.

 

You do know that the DB7 first had a I6....Sorry, that's offtopic.

 

Alfa Romeos are now pretty popular in Europe. There are TONS in Switzerland, almost more common then bimmers. I have a Rosso Alfa GT with Crema interior myself. Desegno Bertone of course. Go on the Alfa website and check it out. All the Alfa GTA models are very hardcore, and they make what is probably the nicest sounding V-6 in the world.

 

I've been following this story for a while now. I too want to purchase a Maserati because it is an alternative to the "in-your-face" attitude projected by a Ferrari. In addition, you have to know cars to even know what a Maserati is. I just was not crazy about the current styling of the spyder/coupe which is now dated and the main reason, as far as I am concerned, for them not selling well. I have been able to postpone the purchase in the hope that Pininfarina can come up with a winning design, which apparently it has (if anyone has pics please post).

I`ve heard many rumors, half-truths, etc about the new spyder,. I don`t know what to believe anymore. If you look at the Italiaspeed website the spyder will be unveiled in Sept at the frankfurt autoshow. I think we would have heard more buzz if this were the case. The latest rumor is that it will be built on the Alfa premium platform (which may actually be a good thing) and it will be AWD( also maybe not a bad thing). It will have a Ferrari V8 for North America and a V6 from Alfa as well as the V8 for Europe. The smaller V6 would make it cheaper and compete against the non-turbo Porsche 911.

As far as I know, there has never been an official word from Maserati on cancellation of the spyder-coupe. A few italian chat sites that I follow even report that mules have been recently spotted around Modena and they are convinced that the new spyder is coming soon. Again, I don`t know who to believe. All I know is that Maserati needs to be upscale and it will be successful. There is a strong market for luxurious, GT sports car with the panache of being a Maserati. It needs to look good and have a mean engine under the hood. Who would buy a Porsche, which are a dime a dozen, when you can have the exclusivity of a maserati with its Italian soul,.

To paraphrase `Bull Durham`` `Build it and they will buy it``

 

Don't be so sure about that. I drive by my local Ferrari dealer several times a week, and keep on seeing the same set of Maserati Coupes sitting on thier lot. Some of them have been there for more than six months. From all reports, the Maser Coupes and Spiders have been a dissapointment in terms of sales. They have not meet thier sales projections, and dealers have been forced to drastically knock down the prices to move the metal. It would make sense for Fiat to change the positioning of Maser with the next generation of vehicles since they are uncompetitive in the current market.

 

I think they haven't sold because of the styling. Look at the immense success of the Quattroporte! No question there was alot of competition in that market segment but what was missing was an Italian sports sedan and now Maserati is reaping the rewards. I think they can do the same with the right spyder/coupe.

 

From what i heard, the 3200 design was bought after deawoo or Hyundai rejected the styling proposal. At that time Maserati was still struglling to survive, and was out of cash. So it's true that design-wise the car is not absolutly perfect (esp. with the current rear lights), but i guess the very bad reputation (and actually very poor build quality) that did so much for the image.
Maybe also they thought they would just take the brand, price them like 911s, and that they would sell like 911s.
But then again, first a 911 is a safe bet, you have 99 % of all parts within 24 hours (i had to wait 15 months or so for my passenger doors' inner panel to be replaced), and people who buy a Maser would rather buy an Aston, not a Porsche, so it's a different target anyway.
A Porsche even if it's slower than a F-car is sport-focused, while the maser/Aston were ALWAYS GTs, and never proper sports car.
So i guess in the end they canned it because THEY made a mistake (or 3, if you take build quality and spares supply into account), not because the car in itself was a failure.

 

They're going with an Alfa platform and a V6 engine from what I've read.

 

I read that as well.

It's dumb. Again, these cars focus at poor Aston martin drivers (way of speaking), that want some understated GT.
I guess it won't work...These business geniusses think they can just take a brand and do anything, but it doesn't work....

 

Honeslty, as i told in another post, the reliability of my spyder was catastrophic (roof was not working most of the time, dodgy tranny, scuttle shake, radio not working fine, then you have other problems, such as messed up suspension design (too strong suspension, too weak anti-roll bars for one...), petrol tank leaking etc.
I also drove the coupe, the QP, and the 3200 when it was new.
Don't get me wrong, il love masers, but simply it's a joke to dare selling cars with such a bad level of finish, both from an engineering point of view and from a fit and finish point of view.
I agree the interior of a DB7 is a nightmare, the 996 was a scandal, and the maser was in a different league for that, but a nice dash is a good start, not everything.
Also, while we did a winter driving training, in one of the cars the inner door panel feel down (...), and a friend who also bought a spyder started a lawsuit to get his money back.
Maybe in the states the cars had a stronger control, but here it was a pain.
As you say, the grandsport finally reached an acceptable level of roadholding (brake pedal feel for one is not at porsche level), tranny etc, but why so late ?, wouldn't it have been wiser for the brand to keep the 3200 until the 4200 was FULLY ok ?
But again, the QP was a revelation, it was -of course- not perfect, but it's a really great car, with huge performance and roadholding. A car Maserati can be proud of, and one the owner doesn't need excuses for.
So, i agree with you, they NEED the new coupe/spyder, NOW, and it's maybe the dumbest thing i ever heard to cann a car 6 month before its presentation, meaning all the tooling (body tools are the most expensive and won't be reused for a potential mini FCar) is already here running in pre-production.

 

Forgot about the Biturbo? How about the "Chrysler TC by Maserati"?

So soon we forget...

 

I fully agree on that !

 

Exactly. It was only with the 3200 GT that Maserati started to make serious sports cars again in terms of style and visual appearance.

 

How about a V8 powered Alfa Chassis based model line?

Thats what I see coming...and with a lowered price too...

 

I visited the local Maserati-Ferrari dealership in Montreal today and according to the salesman the new Maserati Spider will be available in Canada and presumably North America in Sept 2006( in the dealerships). Apparently, it is NOT cancelled. If you look at this month's Automobile magazine they also say it will be released in 2006. There are alot of rumors about an Alfa premium platform with 30/70 AWD(rear wheel bias). The premium platform and AWD may actually be good things. GM spent alot of money developing it with Alfa before the dissolution of the partnership.

 

I'd have thought a Brera AWD chassis might be a good way to go with a V8.

Priced tens of thousands less then the current model lineup might boost volume.

Just an opinion.

Doesn't mean it will happen.

Just thought matching a V8 and the alfa chassis might make for a more volume/profitable product for the brand.

JB

 

It is now the new Dino from Ferrari .

 

I have now been driving my 2002 cambocorsa coupe for nearly 2 years and 20,000+kilometres and apart from replacing the clutch and thrust bearing and a few niggles with the drivers door window it has been trouble free motoring. I was looking forward to the release of the replacement coupe later this year and intended to buy one. When Maserati and Ferrari and the stories that the coupe replacement was being axed I stuggled to understand the logic. However I think we are slowly starting to see the Fial corporate strategy emerge.

It appears that the new Maserati coupe will become a Ferrari model which it already essentially is except for the badge. This will be a 2 seater and will compete with AM Porsche etc. Ferrari name will eliminate slow sales/discount problem that Maserati coupe has suffered from.

Existing coupes are likly to have reasonable second hard values as Ferrari engineering and content will be more readily recognised.

Looks like Maserati model range will be developed to fit between Alfa and Ferrari. Quattroporte is highly unlikely to stop production and v12 version makes sense. Under that I suspect we will see SUV and possibly smaller sedan/copue range using Alfa engines and drivetrains or maybe even exisitng V8 if that can be fitted in. Hopefully these will be properly engineered and styled Italian cars. Below the Maserati range will be the Alfa models which have proven to be popular. In Australia where I live Alfa 156 model has been very popular and resale values are strong.

So having intially been despondent when the news of changes for Maserati brand were announced I now think it is likely to be a good thing and should lead to a range of fine cars.