zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Buying
/
Maserati Is Hedging Its Bets, Won't Go All EV Just Yet
Maserati Is Hedging Its Bets, Won't Go All EV Just Yet-August 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:09:16

2023 Maserati Grecale Trofeo

Maserati is a strange brand. It has this cache among the regular folk like it’s on the same echelon as, say, Rolls or Bugatti, when in actuality it occupies a tier somewhere just north of Alfa Romeo. The new Grecale midsize SUV starts at a mere $65,000, for crying out loud. Somewhere, an unscrupulous Toyota dealer is probably trying to , as I write this.

But Maserati doesn’t plan to stay in a specific lane. It’s perfectly comfortable being all things to all people, as an with the marque’s boss on this side of the pond illustrated Friday.

In the story, William Peffer, CEO of Maserati Americas, said that the House of the Trident isn’t ready to commit to a death date for internal-combustion-powered models. He also credited its diversity of powertrains with Stellantis’ myriad resources:

“The only reason we can [offer so many body styles and powertrains] is because we’re part of Stellantis,” Maserati Americas CEO William Peffer told Automotive News. “We’re making dual investments, which is cool.”

This is a period of rejuvenation and expansion for the brand, which was marred by a lineup that had grown stale over the past decade. Its U.S. sales, after peaking at 13,699 in 2017, declined in four out of the next five years.

The drought of fresh product is letting up with the introduction of the MC20 halo model in 2022, the Grecale and the upcoming return of the GranTurismo coupe, which went out of production in 2019. The gasoline-powered GranTurismo will launch first this summer, followed by an electric version soon after.

Maserati said last year that it would go all-electric by 2030 and debut electric versions of each nameplate by 2025. Peffer, however, isn’t holding the brand to any specific dates to fully make the transition.

“I’m not aware in North America of a drop-dead date that says, ‘By this point, this day, we will no longer sell ICE,’” Peffer said. He added that Maserati is observing to see “what the adoption looks like, watch and see where consumer preferences go, watch and see how the rest of the industry deals with the aspects of [charging] infrastructure and things like that.”

Maserati’s aged product lineup certainly hadn’t done it many favors in recent years, which is why the decision to make the visually almost exactly like the only one, save for the mug, struck as an odd choice. Sure, the GranTurismo has always been an attractive car, but I have to regularly remind myself the 2024 model is more than a midcycle facelift.

2023 Maserati GranTurismo Trofeo

Meanwhile, dealers seem ready for the Grecale to woo new customers to the showroom. In an era when every brand is trying to slide upmarket where the margins are much cushier, Maserati’s content making a play at mainstream luxury volume.

The Grecale starts at $64,995 with shipping, a price point that may surprise some consumers. Houston Maserati dealer Steven Wolf said the brand’s image can make people assume its products are out of their reach, but the Grecale is more accessible.

“I think that there’s a lot of people that don’t know you can get a Maserati in the $60,000 range, and I think that’s something [where] the word needs to get out,” said Wolf, who held a private gathering at his dealership for prospective customers to check out the Grecale in September. “I think that would be a significant shot in the arm for us. We’re doing a TV campaign; we’re going to spend a lot of money talking about that. We have it on our electronic billboard, we put it on our email blast, and I think that drives traffic, at least an opportunity for someone to come check it out.”

According to Maserati, early data suggests that as many as 80 percent of Grecale orders represent “conquest” buyers — which is to say they considered models across multiple makes before making their purchase. Should they want to go electric with their next Maserati, the brand plans to have the at the ready. And should they prefer another twin-turbo V6, they can have a better version of that same engine mounted . It’s all a part of Maserati’s strategy of doing everything, because why not?

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Buying
My Civic Was Crushed By a Falling Branch! What Car Should I Buy?
My Civic Was Crushed By a Falling Branch! What Car Should I Buy?
Nick and his girlfriend live in Los Angles and shared a very nice Honda Civic Hybrid until a falling tree branch put an end to their Honda. They have an insurance payout of about $14,000, but are feeling overwhelmed by the lack of quality selections in the market. What...
Aug 29, 2026
Ford Will No Longer Publish its Vehicle Brochures
Ford Will No Longer Publish its Vehicle Brochures
Print media has been experiencing a very , over the last two decades. As more and more people access their media and information electronically, there is no longer a need for printed materials — or for companies to even offer information in print. The same goes for auto brochures....
Aug 29, 2026
At $1,500, Does This 1991 Chevy Corvette Deserve a Better Fate?
At $1,500, Does This 1991 Chevy Corvette Deserve a Better Fate?
It’s no doubt that the C4 Corvette is the marque’s bargain-basement offering right now, but could the issues with today’s coupe prove too overwhelming to make even its low asking price seem a deal? The fish out of water storyline has long been a popular trope in TV and...
Aug 29, 2026
At $19,900, Is This 1958 Morgan 4/4 Series II a British Steal?
At $19,900, Is This 1958 Morgan 4/4 Series II a British Steal?
The seller of today’s Morgan claims it to have some rally racing heritage and to have been sold to its present owner way back in 1970. Let’s see what it might take to sell it today. The metaphorically rich adjective “half-assed” is almost never wielded as a compliment. Instead,...
Aug 29, 2026
2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6: This Is It
2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6: This Is It
Sedans aren’t dead. At least they aren’t if it’s an EV. Hyundai has finally revealed the second car in its Ioniq EV sub-brand and it’s a sedan. Not just any sedan either, but a sedan with obvious German luxury design cues. Just look at this thing. It’s beautiful. Hyundai...
Aug 29, 2026
At $8,500, Is This 1993 Mazda Miata Off-Roader the Answer to Boredom?
At $8,500, Is This 1993 Mazda Miata Off-Roader the Answer to Boredom?
Doc Brown may have made a time machine out of a DeLorean, but the seller of today’s Miata has taken on an even greater challenge, turning a roadster into an off-roader. Let’s decide if that was a good idea, and what the result might be worth. Once you get...
Aug 29, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved