Jump to content
Create New...
  • William Maley
    William Maley

    Maserati Hopes For A Reversal of Fortune

      FCA CEO lays the blame on the brand being treated "almost as if it were a mass market brand."

    There are a number of issues that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' CEO Mike Manley has to solve. One of those is trying to improve the fortunes of Maserati. Former FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne had set an ambitious goal of selling 75,000 vehicles in 2018. But the brand has only sold just 26,400 models through the first nine months of the year, The brand reduced their target to 50,000 models in June, but trying to reach that seems quite difficult.

    Max Warburton, an analyst with Bernstein wrote in a note that "Maserati looks broken — a 2.4 percent margin in Q3 is better than Q2. The business — and its volume, pricing and distribution plans — surely need a rethink."

    During the third quarter's earnings call, Manley told analysts that bundling Maserati with Alfa Romeo proved to be a mistake.

    "With hindsight, when we put Maserati and Alfa together, it did two things. Firstly, it reduced the focus on Maserati the brand. Secondly, Maserati was treated for a period of time almost as if it were a mass market brand, which it isn't and shouldn't be treated that way," he said.

    FCA has moved its chief technology officer Harald Wester back to Maserati to lead it. He led the brand from 2008 to 2016. One of the first moves by Wester was recruiting Jean-Philippe Leloup. He previously headed up Ferrari's business operations in central and eastern Europe.

    But there is still a glaring issue facing Maserati, products. The Alferi coupe and cabrio, along with a specialty model were supposed to launch by the end of the 2014-2018 plan. That did not happen. Felipe Munoz, an analyst with JATO Dynamics told Automotive News that the lack of new products and "regular cadence of launches" is hurting the brand. Not helping is the Levante which launched a couple of years ago. Munoz points out the large premium SUV segment is the only one not growing, and that Levante is being hurt by updated versions of the BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class, and Porsche Cayenne being launched.

    Under FCA's latest four-year plan, Maserati is expected to launch the Alferi, a midsize SUV, and electrified models by 2022. Whether or not Maserati can pull it off remains to be seen.

    Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    Their problems are 100% product and not any pairing with Alfa Romeo.  Maserati cars have poor build quality, low rent interior plastics and their whole deal is supposed to be performance, and any of the Germans will sell a better performing car and at less money.

    Case in point, Levante Trofeo is $170,000 base and the GLE63 which is dated itself is just as fast at about $125,000.  Or get a Cayenne Turbo or the new X5 M.  The most powerful Ghibli has 424 hp, you can get more than that in an E53, and the top Quattroporte has 523 hp, you get 630 in the AMG GT 4-door and the AMG GT is your Nurburgring lap record holder for a 4 door car.

    Maserati is just a disaster, only way to fix it is better product, and clearly they don't have the money or resources or engineering know-how to do it.  

    • Agree 3
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    2 hours ago, smk4565 said:

    Their problems are 100% product and not any pairing with Alfa Romeo.  Maserati cars have poor build quality, low rent interior plastics and their whole deal is supposed to be performance, and any of the Germans will sell a better performing car and at less money.

    Case in point, Levante Trofeo is $170,000 base and the GLE63 which is dated itself is just as fast at about $125,000.  Or get a Cayenne Turbo or the new X5 M.  The most powerful Ghibli has 424 hp, you can get more than that in an E53, and the top Quattroporte has 523 hp, you get 630 in the AMG GT 4-door and the AMG GT is your Nurburgring lap record holder for a 4 door car.

    Maserati is just a disaster, only way to fix it is better product, and clearly they don't have the money or resources or engineering know-how to do it.  

    Hm, where to get the money for better product?  May I suggest ending FIAT and funneling that cash towards upgrading Maserati?  Makes a lot more sense than wasting a dime on FIAT.

    • Agree 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    They probably should dump Fiat.  Even in the 2nd world countries, I imagine VW, Skoda, Seat, Nissan/Renault or Toyota do way better and Fiat probably doesn't even do well in counties that crave cheap small cars.

    I don't really see the need for Maserati either.  As a high dollar car it should have good margins, but it doesn't because they can't sell enough and you still have some amount of fixed costs to cover.  Really you could transform the Ghibli into a mid/large Alfa Romeo sedan then Alfa has 2 sedans, give them another SUV and they have 2, give them an 8C $100k sports car as a halo product and that makes Maserati pointless. 

    Jaguar to some degree is in the same situation.  Just because Jaguar and Maserati are storied brands, doesn't mean they are relevant today.  Blockbuster Video and Sears were successful, segment leading brands are one point, irrelevant today.  I don't see any path in which FCA competes with the German luxury car brands.  They are too good at what they do and too far ahead.

    • Agree 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Fiat cars worldwide were down to approx 1.1M in 2017, from 1.6M in 2010.   Fiat Commercial was up to approx 450k in 2017.   That is still a lot of sales...

    Edited by Robert Hall
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites



    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • google-news-icon.png



  • Community Hive Community Hive

    Community Hive allows you to follow your favorite communities all in one place.

    Follow on Community Hive
  • google-news-icon.png

  • Subscribe to Cheers & Gears

    Cheers and Gears Logo

    Since 2001 we've brought you real content and honest opinions, not AI-generated stuff with no feeling or opinions influenced by the manufacturers.

    Please consider subscribing. Subscriptions can be as little as $1.75 a month, and a paid subscription drops most ads.*
     

    You can view subscription options here.

    *a very limited number of ads contain special coupon deals for our members and will show

  • Similar Content

  • Posts

    • Plastic cladding = off road.  Instead of killing the Sonata, they should just put plastic body cladding down the side and raise the price by $10k and call it the Sonata HD Overlander X.  Instant hit.
    • Considering a planet with 8 Billion and he sold almost 2 million cars, then he is covering .025% of the population compared to other auto companies. I think 2024 going into 2025 we will see other auto companies top Tesla. You and I are two peas in a pod as I also was up on a hill watching the implosion and thinking what a waste as it was a great building. I love the Kingdome and hate the new stadium.  Agree it was surreal to see the ship hit the support pillar and the whole building just collapse. Be interesting to see what replaces it as today bridges built like that are not allowed due to the exact nature of how it collapsed.  Yes, Tesla is a love or hate and the minimalist approach is not for everyone. I honestly have to agree with the comment @smk4565 I believe made that the touch screen only will be the future of cheap autos and switches and buttons will be the higher end autos. Interesting times we live in for sure.
    • Decent upgrade to the aging 2024 model. Nice to see they are reducing costs of the curved screen in the EVs by pushing it out across the Hyundai Family and into Kia. The one thing I do not like is all the Chrome. 🤢 🤮
    • Today at the New York International Auto Show, Hyundai unveiled an update to its little truck, the Hyundai Santa Cruz. The refresh to the exterior is relatively mild, though it features a more menacing grille with bolder verticle lines.  Updated running lights and new wheel designs add to the fresher look. Inside, there is a new steering wheel, infotainment system, and instrument panel. on upper trims, an optional panoramic curved display houses dual 12.3-inch displays for driver and entertainment. The plenty-capable powertrains carry over with either a 191-horsepower direct injected 2.5-liter 4-cylinder or a turbo-charged version of of the same engine with 281 horsepower.  The transmission for the entry-level engine is a traditional 8-speed automatic, while the turbo-charged model gets an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission. Santa Cruzes with the turbo engine gain a new tow mode for enhanced towing control.  Both powertrains are towing capable with a 3,500 lb rating for the entry engine and a stout 5,000 lb rating for the turbo models when equipped with all-wheel drive. New for 2025 is an XRT trim geared even more towards outdoor adventure. It features a trim-specific front fascia and grille, special 18-inch wheels with all-terrain tires, an increased approach angle, front tow hooks, and surround-view monitoring.    The 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz goes on sale this summer. View full article
    • Regarding Tesla - it's either love or hate with these vehicles.  A college friend I'll be seeing when in SoCal next month has 2 of them, and I'll probably be riding in both of them - one is his sleeker S model and I forgot which the other one (that his wife drives) is.  In certain places, people have a lot of disposable income and having a Tesla goes with the landscape. Minimalist(ic) isn't necessarily bad.  We all remember the adage "less is more."  I'll vouch that the workmanship of the interior is good and I can also vouch that the overall look (including the centered everything on one display) is ugly.  I will say that EV motors are supposed to last a long time but the battery replacement is very expensive and the range is currently not that optimal. I did not like the model Y I had for less than 1 day.  Also, its exterior is mostly ugly.  That's my opinion. This isn't a discussion I want to get into.  I would much prefer a more user-friendly EV ... and not just yet. - - - - - What I was randomly going to say: I'm not sure whether I'm in shock or still feeling surreal as to what happened in Baltimore.  At first, I thought a ship just hit something on a bridge.  Then I saw the footage and that's the surreal part ... the domino-like collapse of the entire structure and the size of the ship.  I remember having to figure out the forces of either tension or compression on each member of a truss-like structure when I was in school.   A group of us sat there for about 3 or 4 hours one night - with some Mountain Dew - to work that out. I don't believe I've been on that bridge since it's on the outer beltway, but it's numbered as part of the U.S. interstate system.  From looking at the map, it is the major bridge on the entrance to/exit from Baltimore Harbor.  I hope they find the 6 individuals who were working on it fixing potholes in the middle of the night who fell down with the bridge.  The ship giving a mayday is what allowed them to shut down both approaches to the bridge just in time.   The weird thing is that it happened on March 26.  IIRC, the deliberate (domino-like) implosion of the reinforced concrete Kingdome in Seattle happened on March 26, 2000 (no rain that day) and people were sitting on slopes overlooking downtown to see that happen.  But that's how it is with planned implosions.  I went there that morning and have photos of the Kingdome's last day somewhere. https://www.seahawks.com/video/kingdome-implosion-hd It was indeed March 26, 2000.  I was one of the few who liked the Kingdome.
  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
  • My Clubs

×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search

Change privacy settings