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After more than a year in a tailspin, Italian sports car brand Maserati unveiled a new high-performance sports car on Wednesday, part of an offering by parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV to revive its premium vehicle strategy ahead of its merger. with the French automaker Peugeot SA.
The launch of the Maserati MC20 in the Italian automotive city of Modena is part of a parade of new vehicles planned between now and 2023 to reinforce Fiat Chrysler’s presence in the global high-end car market. Porsche from Germany, Ferrari NV, Aston Martin Lagonda from Great Britain, Model S and Model X from Tesla Inc. and others represent stiff competition.
The MC20 will launch with an internal combustion engine, with an all-electric version expected later.
Maserati plays a crucial role in Stellantis, the new group stemming from the planned merger of FCA and PSA. The joint portfolio has no other global luxury brand other than top-of-the-line Jeep and Ram truck models that are sold at North American luxury vehicle prices.
PSA Chief Executive Carlos Tavares, who will lead Stellantis, has said he sees no need to rule out any brands after the merger.
“I can imagine Tavares really interested in having people like Maserati as part of the larger group,” said IHS Markit analyst Ian Fletcher.
Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley has been investing in Maserati despite the brand’s poor performance. The brand had an operating loss of 199 million euros ($ 235 million) last year, as shipments fell 45% worldwide.
In the second quarter, heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, Maserati’s operating losses amounted to 99 million euros, shipments fell 52% and margins contracted 53.5%.
Still, Manley has stuck to a multi-year plan to resurrect the brand, which would give Fiat Chrysler a foothold in the lucrative global luxury vehicle segment if the company can find the right mix of style, technology. and performance to compete against Tesla, the company. German luxury brands and Ferrari.
FCA said last year that Maserati would get a significant part of the 5 billion euros planned to invest in Italy until 2021.
“We’re now getting to the point where those investments will start to hit the market,” Manley said in July. “My expectation … is that we will start to see solid progress on that front in the fourth quarter, which will continue as we move into 2021.”
Maserati launched a hybrid version of its Ghibli luxury sedan earlier this year, and plans to launch a new SUV and redesigned GranTurismo and GranCabrio models between 2021 and 2022, the brand’s first fully electric cars.
This story was published from a news agency feed with no changes to the text. Only the title has been changed.
