Maserati has revealed images and details of its (now) production-ready contender in the premium SUV market, the Levante.

Modena-based luxury vehicle manufacturer Maserati is known for its exclusive and luxurious grand tourers and saloons, such as the Quattroporte, Ghibli and GranTurismo. The presence of an SUV in the Maserati product lineup would have been out of the question a few years ago, but premium SUVs remainvery popular around the globe and especially so in growing markets. The proof comes from Porsche, whose Cayenne and Macan SUVs sell well,Bentley has made its own super SUV: the Bentayga, and there'll be a Rolls-Royce SUV soon. Maserati recently announced it'd be joining the luxury SUV segment and we've seen a few spy shotsof pre-production Levantesfrom around the world. Some were even spotted in South Africa. .

The Levante is unmistakably a Maserati – it incorporates many design cues from the brand's current model lineup and is claimed to offer "outstanding on-road performance typical of every Maserati". The Levante will also be offering reasonable off-road performance thanks toelectronically controlled (and adaptable) air suspension. There will be "Q4" intelligent all-wheel drive and an 8-speed automatic transmission specially calibrated for the product. While the full engine lineup is yet to be confirmed, Maserati says the Levante will come with Euro6-compliant petrol and diesel engines.

The Maserati Levante will be manufactured inthe Mirafiori plant in Turin and the global launch is set for the third quarter of 2016. We had confirmation from Maserati South Africa that the first right-hand drive cars will arrive in SA in mid-November 2016.

Watch: Cars.co.za drives the Maserati Ghibli S