Maserati won't go lower than Ghibli

Maserati says it will not produce a smaller model than the Ghibli or a less powerful version of its cheapest model ever, but won't rule out lower pricing in future.

The Italian luxury brand launched its first direct rival for large premium sedans like the BMW 5 Series in Australia last week, priced from the $138,900 plus on-road costs.

The Ghibli therefore lowered the cost of entry to a new Maserati by about $60,000, given the new Quattroporte Diesel arrived in June at $198,800 plus ORCs – the diesel variant positioned more than $40,000 below the cheapest previous Quattroporte.

Not surprisingly then, Ghibli demand has far exceeded supply, both in Australia, where some dealers are sold out on certain models until Christmas, and globally, where Maserati is taking orders at the rate of 3500 per month.

Maserati will sell its 2014 allocation of 200 Ghiblis here in the second half of this year, and says it will account for up to 300 of the 500 vehicles it plans to sell in the next few years.

But the brand's biggest growth will come from the Levante SUV, which will be launched in Europe in 2015 and in Australia in late 2016.

The third stage of Maserati's local growth plan calls for 1500 sales by 2017 – the Levante's first full year on sale here – with 1000 of those going to the Italian sports car brand's first SUV.

Globally, Maserati is planning for 75,000 annual sales by 2018, by which time the Levante, Ghibli and Quattroporte will be joined by the Alfieri concept-based 2016 coupe and 2017 convertible, and a replacement for its GranTurismo flagship.

That will represent a near five-fold increase on the 15,700 cars it sold in 2013 (including half a year of Ghibli sales) and almost nine times its previous annual sales record of 8600 in 2008, when it shifted a record 200 cars in Australia.

Indeed, although it has traditionally outsold its sister brand Ferrari, Maserati actually sold fewer cars than Ferrari between 2009 and 2012 worldwide, and only slightly more than its fellow Italian car-maker in Australia in the same period.

But Maserati's ambitious growth plans will eventually see it outsell Ferrari by more than 10 to one, with Ferrari capping its annual global production at 7000.

Despite this, the brand's Australian chief executive says Maserati will remain exclusive when supplies free up next year and the Levante arrives as its new volume-seller in 2016.

"It's an exciting time for Maserati, which has plans for staged growth in Australia over the next few years," said Maserati's Australian general manager Glen Sealey during the Ghibli launch last week.   

"In phase one business will stabilise at about 150 vehicles and when [combined Ghibli and Quattroporte] supplies open up a little from next year we'll be looking to increase that to around 500 in phase two, but we won't flood the market.

"The big growth will come from Levante, which we're happy to have a little late. It should bring us to 1500 in 2017, its first full year here."

Sealey said Maserati will still sell fewer vehicles than brands like Porsche, which plans to sell 200,000 vehicles globally by 2018, and at least 2000 here this year. 

"Maserati will certainly remain exclusive, but not exotic. A year ago it was exotic. Our $140,000 entry point is quite exclusive – far more so than Porsche, which now starts under $85,000, Jaguar, which starts under $70,000 and Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, which are all down around the $30,000s.

"Maseratis will still be rare. You're not going to see one on every street corner."

To that end, Sealy confirmed Maserati will not develop a model smaller than the Ghibli or cheaper than the Levante, which will be available in entry-level diesel form priced to compete directly with oil-burning luxury SUVs like the Porsche Cayenne (from $104,700).

"In terms of model strategy, there are no plans to go below Ghibli or Levante," he said, adding that the entry-level Ghibli Diesel will attract just to 20 per cent of sales, with the more expensive petrol models both forecast to account for 40 per cent of sales – at least initially.

"Unlike the German brands, the diesel will be our smallest seller. It's there as our entry point to the range, but we don't expect a huge take up. Diesel will be a slow burner... it will go well, but won't be a huge proportion of sales.

"It's the same with the Quattroporte, where the GTS is the top seller. Even in the previous model everyone wanted the 4.7 not the 4.2, and there's strong demand for MC versions of the GranTurismo [Maserati's most expensive models, at around $350,000]."

Sealey also confirmed the entry-level 243kW Ghibli and 202kW Ghibli Diesel – both priced from under $140,000 – would remain the least powerful models in the Ghibli range, but he would not rule out future price reductions.

"If the Euro was suddenly at parity with the Australian dollar then... You can never say never when it comes to currency fluctuations," he said.

In reality, more expensive Ghibli models are far more likely, including a Ghibli GTS with a more powerful version of the 301kW/550Nm 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 in the Ghibli S and, perhaps, MC and stripped-out Stradale versions powered by the 390kW/650Nm 3.8-litre V8 from the Quattroporte GTS.