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More woes for Maserati

8.3K views 46 replies 19 participants last post by  SeanFulop  
#1 ·
#3 ·
I think there's just too many better choices in the segment, especially for the money, and even within their own umbrella. For instance, Giulia and Stelvio > Ghibli and Levante.
 
#7 ·
The new CEO Mike Manley hits the nail on the head, when he says that Maserati was being treated almost like a "mass market brand". That was the direction given under Marchionne's leadership - which I always felt was totally wrong. None of the unique and sometimes challenging things that make up a Maserati would ever be acceptable to a mass market buyer.....and that's what the numbers show. I hope Mr. Manley pushes Maserati back towards being a low volume and exclusive automobile manufacture that they really are.
 
#8 ·
When your main goal is to see SUVs, regardless of how "good" they are, you become a mass market brand. Maserati needs to go back to its roots if it truly want's to be a successful niche brand.

"FCA's decision to bundle Maserati with its Alfa Romeo marque under a single leader was a mistake, Manley told analysts on the automaker's third-quarter earnings call on Oct 30. "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," Manley said."
 
#10 · (Edited)
Exactly!

Look at Ferrari. They never caved into the SUV craze yet their profits are as great as they’ve ever been and they’re releasing more new models than ever before. They know EXACTLY who their customers are, what their mission is, and never lost sight of it. All the things Maserati is Not doing and why they are struggling.
 
#14 ·
Porsche went all in with their SUVs ( at the time I found that not just a despicable move but surely a death sentence to the brand's heritage and reputation, which would erode their sports cars lines appeal ) Man, was I wrong.. even though I still am not warmed up to the idea of Porsche soccer-mom cars, or even the sedans ( Panameras ), not only are all those models wildly successful, but it did not diminish Porsche's sports cars brand, customers loyalty, and the sports models sales in the least bit...they're all doing extremely well. Granted, as high end performance of a car manufacturer it may be, Porsche was and remains a mass market brand, unlike Maserati who is perceived to be a much more exclusive " exotic " ( for lack of better terminology ) , just a step below Ferrari, so not sure what the impact of the SUVs, and the blending in with Alfa will be .

Maybe they should rename the the Alfieri to....Alfalfa ?! :wink2:
The factory's test driver revealed :
 

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#16 ·
SUVs are the hottest segment of automobiles and you absolutely need one to survive...When Jaguar and Porsche both have SUVs then you know what is up...They are like 4 door sports cars with a large inside and big tires these days...I love sports cars, but they are not super functional..Jason
 
#23 · (Edited)
There's nothing "quirky" about Maserati's heritage. They're as old (maybe older) as Ferrari and just as legendary. They were founded by the Alfieri brothers who had a passion about racing cars (same as Enzo Ferrari). They competed on the same circuits as Ferrari, Alfa's, and others and won their share of racing victories. However, what differentiated their path through time compared to Ferrari is their vision (or lack thereof) and the willingness to compromise. What made Ferrari so famous and made them the brand they are today is due to the sheer tenacity of Enzo Ferrari who stuck to his vision through the good times and bad. His absolute unwillingness to compromise is why Ferrari is so revered and their cars are so valuable today. Do you see Ferrari's advertised in newspapers or on online with big discounts or "lease specials?" No! Why are Ferrari's costing as much as a nice house and yet they don't have a problem with people buying 'em? Currently there is a 18 mo. waiting list for the new Ferrari SF90 Stradale which costs over $500K+ and isn't even out yet!! WHY?!! Because unwavering commitment to excellence time after time after time is freakin' valuable and people recognize and appreciate that! Imagine if Enzo sold his company to Ford back in the 1960's. What do you think would've happened to Ferrari now?.....Not so different from what is happening to Maserati I bet!

You can never underestimate how important it is for a company to have a leader who has an unshakeable belief in his/her vision and an unwavering committment to excellence........Enzo Ferrari, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, Warren Buffet, the list goes on and on. The unfortunate state of Maserati is the direct result of incompetent leadership over and over and over again,.....and it's really sad because they could've been every bit as successful as Ferrari with the right leadership.
 
#24 ·
The Alfieri brothers? I suppose you mean the Maserati brothers, one of whom was named Alfieri (there were 5 brothers I think). But yes the marque has had many owners, and never began making cars for the public until the 1950s, long after the Maserati brothers had all sold out. Prior to that it was all racing cars. But the Maserati family had sold out by 1937, before Ferrari was even founded in 1939, so the founders were from a different generation than Enzo Ferrari. They were never in direct competition until the Maserati name was taken over by the Orsi family, I believe. But still beginning with the 3500 GT there was a succession of great cars through the golden age of the 1960s and 1970s, until the oil crisis and a lot of upheavals after that. More recently the "Ferrari era" from 2002-2012 brought some great cars, whose value remains low these days.

But yes since the successful golden age, and even through that time, Maserati has been more of a feather in someone else's cap, rather than a company whose success someone was devoted to.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Owning both a Stelvio and my GTS, I am what they were trying to achieve. Get the customer in the showroom. They are different vehicles, both fabulous drivers. Maserati oozes luxury, Stelvio oozes sport.


There are quite a few Maserati's in my town now. At least as many as Jags. Well cared for and admired. It will take few years to see if this produces that second wave of buyers. Early Ghibli nightmares hurt them. How many vehicles did they sell annually 10yrs ago? I still see Maserati as a brand in its best health in many many years, with products that are actually getting quite reliable. Prime reason I am onboard. Would never have bought a Coupe gorgeous as they were, those trannies were destined to fail and eat $$$'s.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Agreed Juris. I actually think they are in a good place at present. The Gran Turismo, historically, may go down as one of the finest, if not the finest GT car ever built. The Levante is a beautiful SUV and will actually be on my short list in a few years when its time to replace my Range Rover Sport as we are used to a slightly larger vehicle than the Stelvio for long distances (I, personally, would be very happy with it, the wife likes the extra space for all her stuff) The 2 sedans....they are in trouble as it is a dying segment of the industry. Can't believe it lasted as long as it did. They moved people but not stuff. All modern SUVs can haul, stuff and people. I grew up with hatchbacks....love them. My Stelvio is a 21st century HOT hatchback!


The Alfieri looks stunning and will be the next generation halo car for the brand. I don't want Maserati to grow too much.. There is a mystique, and extra special feeling to owning this Italian gem, something even my 2 Jag XJ's (98, 04)and XK(12) could not match. They are far from doomed and my local dealership is very happy with progress both Alfa and Maserati has made. Fiat has been a huge disappointment.


I have already realized I am much happier with the GTS is normal mode, letting it do what it does best...be a GT. Sport mode is great fun to blast through a few gears but the ride is unnecessarily firm. I'd love the sport button to just control the exhaust.
 
#33 ·
I have already realized I am much happier with the GTS is normal mode, letting it do what it does best...be a GT. Sport mode is great fun to blast through a few gears but the ride is unnecessarily firm. I'd love the sport button to just control the exhaust.
I’m with you on that but those of us have done the DBW upgrade know that it makes the normal mode (and the car) what it should have been in the first place. Further more, the sticky button issue should have been addressed a decade ago yet we still deal with it. I haven’t seen any evidence that these basic issues have been addressed, so how how can any brand move forward without constant improvement?
 
#30 ·
Actually, Maserati sales in the USA have picked up a little bit over the last year; the latest figures I have seen are March 2018 to March 2019, with a 2.3% increase over that year. Europe, and especially China (as mentioned by someone else earlier in this thread) are currently the main problem markets for the marque.

Maserati needs:

(1) A new sports car/GT range;
(2) more modern drive lines;
(3) an improved positioning in the market place, better aligned with their history.

A huge problem for Maserati under Fiat/FCA/Ferrari ownership and management has been that the marque necessarily has had to play second fiddle to Ferrari. In probably any other ownership/management set-up, Maserati would have been the crown jewel of a corporation, and treated as such. However, a corporate set-up involving Ferrari (its main adversary in racing as well as in the market place from the late 1940s to early 1980s), has kept Maserati alive, but "in the shadows". After the (Fiat) acquisition in the early 1990s, there has simply not been an option whatsoever to re-establish Maserati as Ferrari's main rival. The marque was rescued, not restored.
 
#32 ·
Question, how many folks with a luxury sedan ever really use the back seats??? Just wondering.
 
#36 ·
I have kids and I use them all the time and they love it back there. My son, who is naturally prone to messing around with everything (he burned his finger on the cigarette lighter) discovered numerous features of the QP that I didn't even know were there, for example the rear seat position adjustments, the rear seat heaters, and the switch that allows rear seat passengers to move the front passenger seat.
 
#38 ·
Thanks for the input
 
#42 ·
Taycan is actually the 1st Porsche in decades I find to be attractive. I am impressed! They finally got brave and developed a relatively new looking vehicle without the bugeyes.
 
#44 · (Edited)
Just shows that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One can debate tangible things like performance , technology , functionality , etc all day long , but how appealing a car may be visually to any given person is too subjective . Fortunately, we all concur on the Maserati’s sublime beauty so at least we’re in agreement in that respect :smile2:
 
#45 ·
My 1985 QPIII had a window sticker approaching $90,000 in 1985 dollars. The car was in perfect condition. I mean PERFECT with 50K miles. That included a machined finished exhaust option from Maserati of over $10K.

Factoring inflation, this was a $213,000 car.

I bought it in 1995 (10 years later) for $7,900.00, which factoring inflation is $13,246.00.

That's a $200,000 depreciation in 10 years.

Depreciation of Maseratis is nothing new and has been routinely characteristic of the marque.

The 1985 bodied car screamed outrageousness in its day and was the go-to car for every drug lord and mob boss and made appropriate appearances on Miami Vice. If there was a drug dealer moving millions in dope on that program, you can bet they'd show the goods stuffed into the trunk of a QP.

As a kid, I loved it. It's on-screen intrigue matched it's oddness on the road, with everyone pointing. 4 carburetors atop 4 cams, 8" stainless exhaust narrowing to 4 inch cannons a the tips, 6 shock absorbers, 5mpg with actual pulses of air that would hit your legs as you walked 10 feet behind the car, and a body so wide it simply WOULD NOT fit through the Barnett Bank drive through. It had to be the most inappropriate and impractical car ever made, but I loved it even more for that reason.

Maserati has gone through many downturns, while creating awesome, unconventional cars at the same time. But, with that lack of convention comes lack of demand and that is the reason why they rot standing still when placed on the used car lot.
 
#47 ·
I recall one of these made an appearance filled with the Corleone family in The Godfather Part III...

I absolutely never see one of these cars in excellent condition. Aside from the couple of old clunkers sitting around my auto shop in San Jose, I never see one at all.
 
#46 ·
All of the in-house Maserati designs are just not as nice as the Pinnfarina or Italdesign models. The interior materials are still done to the price point in quality and much of the flair has gone from the marque.

Their roll out of new models has been horrible and way too slow. It's a shame to see such a beautifully stitched interior with lackluster leather. The Ghibli is quite a good buy as a used car though. That's doesn't help Maserati's bottom line.

Maserati is in a tough spot. Alfa's are more sporty and better styled. To be fair, Jaguar is in similarly tough spot with aged portfolio and heritage customers not liking their direction either.

Maybe Maserati should jump on the electric bandwagon?