[Bcube]

Maserati Head of Vehicle Engineering, Paul Fickers:

"Our whole objective, not just with the GranTurismo but also with the Quattroporte, has been to retain Maserati's unique DNA but also attract those Mercedes and BMW customers. Many of our customers love the added edge and aggression of the Quattroporte's DuoSelect paddle-shift transmission, but for others it has been a barrier. Some customers felt intimidated by it, thinking it was somehow more complicated because they couldn't simply slot a lever into "D" and drive. Now we're hearing those same customers say how much they love the Quattroporte Automatic's gearshift paddles."

Further on in the article, Ficker says that the GT suspension settings will be 30-40 percent firmer than on the Quattroporte. The initial production run will be GranTurismo Automatics with a Duo Select version to "follow soon after".

Maserati Technical Director, Jean Luc Brossard on the future:

"Our sales are growing by roughly 30 per cent per year. We expect to produce between 7000 and 7500 units by the end of 2007: 5000 QPs, the rest GTs. The capacity of our Modena factory is 10,000 units, which we hope to reach by 2009. To continue growing, and to make Maserati a truly healthy company, a third model is essential...(long pause)...although obvisously I'm not going to tell you what this is just yet."

 

[Bcube]

Also mentioned in the article, was how the 3200 and subsequent 4200 sales and interest kept the factory doors from closing but it was the introduction (and sharply rising sales) of the QP that helped solidify the new direction of the coupe from a smaller 2+2 to a full size four seater.

Brossard "...We knew from our customers that the new coupe needed to be elegant and sporty, but that it should also offer comfort and space, so we decided on a bigger, full four-seater car..."

 

[maseratifan]

One can only hope that the "third" line will be a true sportscar in the finest sense of the word....not a watered down Alfarati.

Please let it be known that I just coined the term "Alfarati," crackin' myself up here......

 

[Bcube]

I'm very interested in the new GranTurismo - especially if a Spyder is produced. I just purchased a new BMW 335i CC (coupe/convertible) and from the dynamics of both the new bimmer and the Z4 I traded in - I'm reminded just how "aged" the 3200/4200 (Spyder) platform is when I drive it.

 

[Masher44]

I just hope it is more "sexy" and sleek like the 06 Coupe. It does not appear that way by the pics I have seen. The QP is super sexy. The sexiness is what separates the GT from the other comparables.

 

[maseratifan]

aged like fine wine.........make a car too sterile and you've got the Porsche 997....the 993 is much more fun to drive.

 

[Nielsq]

I just hope it is more "sexy" and sleek like the 06 Coupe. It does not appear that way by the pics I have seen. The QP is super sexy. The sexiness is what separates the GT from the other comparables.

From a visual point of view, the GT is really beautiful and sexy. I saw it and sat in it.
As mentioned in a previous post in this thread, "3200 and 4200 are dated platforms." As I said previously, 4200's will "plummet" in resale, mine included. GT will be a great luxurious daily driver like a CL550 or BMW 650.

 

[Bcube]

"aged like fine wine..."

unless you keep it around too long...then you just have a very expensive bottle of vinegar.

After driving both the QP Duo-select and Automatica, I anticipate great dynamics in the smaller and lighter GranTurismo. Remember, Maserati has developed, honed and fine-tuned the dynamics of the QP and upcoming GT on the Nurburgring Nordschleife. The 3200/4200 chassis wasn't.

Edit: SinceMaserati just started using the Nurgurgring 4 years ago - I'm sure the 2005+ GrandSports did use the track for some fine tuning. But that has been at the twilight years of a chassis designed and developed a decade and a half ago. How great is it that the Nurburing has been instrumental in the development of a 21st century chassis.

 

[M!]

From a visual point of view, the GT is really beautiful and sexy. I saw it and sat in it.
As mentioned in a previous post in this thread, "3200 and 4200 are dated platforms." As I said previously, 4200's will "plummet" in resale, mine included. GT will be a great luxurious daily driver like a CL550 or BMW 650.

again, let's see in a year whether your "plummet" thing really comes true.

 

[Dolle Dolf]

.....will be a true sportscar in the finest sense of the word....not a watered down Alfarati....

Alfas are very sporty cars. I would prefer an Alferati over a Maseredes, Maseraudi, Beemerati. Or a Maserentley perhaps. Or worse, a Phaeterati. As opposed to the just ended run of the Maserrari.

Then again, Masers have masqueraded as Citroratis before, so can it really get worse ? Fiarati? Kiarati ;-)

 

[maserati of minneapolis]

Someone just won the coined terms prize.

 

[M!]

...Then again, Masers have masqueraded as Citroratis before, so can it really get worse ? Fiarati? Kiarati ;-)

Clitoris?....

 

[leadfoot_mf]

Clitoris?....

sign me up for one.

 

[maseratifan]

Alfas are very sporty cars. I would prefer an Alferati over a Maseredes, Maseraudi, Beemerati. Or a Maserentley perhaps. Or worse, a Phaeterati. As opposed to the just ended run of the Maserrari.

Then again, Masers have masqueraded as Citroratis before, so can it really get worse ? Fiarati? Kiarati ;-)

I give in, you win!
Though...how about Daewoorati? That would really suck.

 

[Dolle Dolf]

...
Though...how about Daewoorati? ...

Heh heh. Jeder popel faehrt a Maseropel... Eeewww.... :-/

 

[Coops]

Evo mag

Glad to see several mentions relating to this top mag. as far as I am aware the QP is still the fastest "big saloon" around the Evo test track. Including the BMW M5......sweet

 

[The Head]

"3200 and 4200 are dated platforms." As I said previously, 4200's will "plummet" in resale, mine included. GT will be a great luxurious daily driver like a CL550 or BMW 650.

I feel that the maser due to thier low production numbers will follow the typical value track of thier big brothers over at ferrari they will continue to drop until you hit about 10 years of age then the low milage examples will begin to appriciate...either or you wont see me in a new GT looks like I am on the hunt for another car from another manufacturer or maybe that Ghibli I have been dreaming of.

 

[Briik]

The "Third" Model

I offer you this: The next Maserati will be a new GranSport. I have my sources.

 

[M!]

Maserati Technical Director, Jean Luc Brossard on the future:

"Our sales are growing by roughly 30 per cent per year. We expect to produce between 7000 and 7500 units by the end of 2007: 5000 QPs, the rest GTs. The capacity of our Modena factory is 10,000 units, which we hope to reach by 2009. To continue growing, and to make Maserati a truly healthy company, a third model is essential...(long pause)...although obvisously I'm not going to tell you what this is just yet."

I offer you this: The next Maserati will be a new GranSport. I have my sources.

2007: 5000 QP, 2500 GT. total 7500 units.
goal = 10,000 by 2009.

2500 more cars... GS sounds nice.
if they are still using the marketing strategies, the GS would not be introduced until MY2010 (like the QP Sport GT 2 years after first intro); unless they want to cut sales of GT short.

but, isn't their next model the (pininfarina) Spyder, debuting this fall at the shows?

 

[Briik]

isn't their next model the (pininfarina) Spyder, debuting this fall at the shows?

That would be the equivalent of a GranTurismo Spyder, no? I don't think Maserati considers the GS Spyder to be a completely different model than the GS (or coupe when that was the case), and so the GT Spyder, I think, would not counterdict what I've heard.