Maserati's Plan For The Future Gives Us Hope For The Trident Brand

Maserati isn't usually the first brand people reach to if they find themselves with a surplus of cash and want a luxury performance car. While Maserati wouldn't say that so bluntly, that's the way it is, and there are contributing factors that need to be addressed if the brand is to avoid joining the long list of defunct brands that once meant something in the annals of automotive history.

The good news for those that love what Maserati is capable of when it comes to emotionally-driven design and drivetrains: Maserati has a plan that seeks to take full advantage of the move into electrification while capitalizing on its awesome in-house designed and built Nettuno engine developed initially for the stunningly beautiful MC20 supercar.

Attending a small event held at a multi-million dollar home in Newport Beach, California, we got a closer look at Maserati's plan and one-on-one time with the CEO of Maserati Americas, Bill Peffer. We also got a chance to take a quick spin in the all-new GranTurismo powered by that new Nettuno engine.

While Maserati continues to produce the Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans - which will soon be culled and replaced by an electric model straddling the two - and the Levante SUV for the moment, the newest cars to grace the lineup are the start of Maserati's fresh approach to designing and building cars, starting with the MC20 supercar.

The big headline when the MC20 entered the scene was the departure from a Ferrari-derived engine under the hood. Instead, Maserati developed its own ferocious twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 using Formula 1 race car-based technology to go in its supercar and high-performance trim vehicles. It's a technical tour de force generating 621 horsepower in the MC20, but what slipped under the radar is that Maserati designed the car so that it didn't need to be re-engineered to take an all-electric powertrain. Futureproofing is not something commonly associated with supercars, yet Maserati seems to have done just that.

But not everyone buys supercars, so at the other end of the spectrum, Maserati also needs to move into the compact crossover space. This is where the Grecale comes in.

The Grecale gives us an even better look into Maserati's plan to move into the new era. It's small in Maserati terms but packed with luxury features that include a slick new infotainment system. Lesser models make do with four-cylinder engines, with and without mild hybridization, developing 296-325 horsepower. However, the Trofeo trim comes with the Nettuno engine developing 523 horsepower. It doesn't stop there, though, as the Trofeo will no longer be the highest-performance trim. That will arrive in around a year as the Grecale Folgore, where Folgore translates from Italian as Thunderbolt. Like the MC20 pictured, the Grecale is designed to house an all-electric drivetrain without modification, and with the combination of gas, hybrid, and electric powertrains, Maserati has a perfect three-pronged approach to powering future vehicles.

The third of what we're going to describe as Maserati's lynchpin models is an all-new GranTurismo 2+2 coupe. Like the GranTurismo models before, the new one is a beautifully sculpted coupe with a luxurious interior and powered by two flavors of the Nettuno engine, depending on whether you opt for the Modena or Trofeo trim.

There will be a third trim as, you guessed it, the Gran Turismo is also designed to take an electric drivetrain without needing modification. In this case, it will be an 800-volt electric system with three motors derived from Formula E rather than the 400-volt system the Grecale is set to use. 750 hp is in the cards here, with a unique soundtrack that may bring excitement to the electric sports car segment.

Naturally, a GranCabrio will follow, lifting the lid on the entire experience.

Building cars that don't need to be modified to take an electric drivetrain while maintaining the balance Maserati seeks for performance is no small feat, both from design and engineering perspectives.

It's something none of the big players are doing, yet it's an incredibly smart move that Maserati is showing as practical. It allowed Maserati not just to bridge the tipping point coming sooner or later but also to develop a new, no-compromise performance gasoline engine and put it in the brand's entry-level crossover and its halo supercar.

It's going to take more than a tight lineup of vehicles with definitive trim levels for Maserati to flourish rather than just being classified as an also-ran. It can't rely on its history or visual design prowess.

CEO of Maserati Americas, Bill Peffer, understands Maserati is a niche brand and is embracing that as it moves from mainly being known as a purveyor of spicy Italian sedans using Ferrari engines to SUVs and supercars with Maserati powertrains. We'll let people argue it in the comments if the GranTurismo is a supercar, but the reality is that Maserati's powertrain strategy is on point.

"We've got a two-tier strategy with powertrains," Peffer explains, "We have the Nettuno technology. We were buying engines from Ferrari - they used to be our partners - [but] they'll go away with the sunsetting of the Quattroporte, Ghibli, and Levante." He also pointed out that the Nettuno engine is flexible for its packaging - and since this writer has just seen it in front, rear-mid, and front-mid-engined cars, I have to support that notion.

The second tier Peffer alluded to is the electric drivetrains. "We've exceeded the tipping point, right? The adoption curve might not be as strong here as in other parts of the world, but we build a global product, and everything we build is in Italy and gets homologated for the different markets."

If we rewind a little, we now know that Maserati is not just ending production of the Ghibli and Quattroporte, which is expected, but also the Levante in 2024. The V8 is dead along with them, which Peffer is a big deal as some Maserati customers will only buy Maseratis with a V8.

However, the plan is to no longer rely on older customers resistant to new technology. "We look at the age of the owner base right now, and it skews male and upper 50s. So, ten years from now we're going to be in a tough spot. You've got to evolve."

So it seems in Maserati's renaissance, the brand has set firm goals for its powertrains and technical designs, its core model lineup, and even decided to evolve its customer base. However, the brand also has to deal with public perception, at least as far as new buyers go.

Historically, Maserati has been painted as a brand of poor reliability, with the knock-on effect of bad resale values, both found to be the most common reasons buyers steer clear of a trident badge on the nose. Maserati can fix both problems with one solution, and the reality is that even if all the other boxes are ticked, Maserati needs to learn to build reliable cars. Peffer takes ownership of that when asked about it.

"You have to build an ecosystem where you build value in the brand," he admits. "I don't think we can be arrogant where we say, 'Well, we were this before and now we've evolved to something different.' When I think of other brands, it took them 20 or 25 years to build equity or remove barriers before people said, 'You know what? I'm going to try it out.'"

Peffer admits that "it doesn't happen overnight. We know that. But there are things we can do to accelerate it. And it starts with product."

We got a chance to test a new product, albeit very briefly. The 2024 Maserati GranTurismo is a car you don't want to fall in love with unless you have $200,000 in your back pocket. It's a 2+2 coupe that comes only with all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission in combustion guise. We got to briefly experience the full 542 hp in the Trofeo version, and part of the reason it was such a brief drive is because it's so damn fast. It was this writer's first experience with the Nettuno engine, and it lived up to the hype as a relentless beast.

Our time was so limited that all it left was an impression, one of the kind of power you expect from a Maserati powerplant, the kind of interior you expect from a Maserati grand tourer, and looks you can't help but turn back for another glance at as you walk away.

Back with Peffer, he explained how Maserati is able to get itself into a position where it can not just build cars that can be made with electric or internal combustion engines but how it can bring something as bold as the GranTurismo to market now. Nobody else is making an all-electric two-door, four-seat grand tourer right now, let alone one that has the exclusivity of being designed and built in Modena, Italy. It's a first-in-its-class vehicle, which owes its existence to an unlikely partnership.

"We unlocked the resources," Peffer explained, "When the merger happened between PSA and FCA and created Stellantis, we sat at the pinnacle of this 14-brand conglomerate group. And we're the only global luxury brand in that lineup. So we have an almost limitless amount of resources and technology to put into our cars which differentiates us from our competitors."

The Stellantis connection has allowed Maserati to commit to multiple avenues, whereas rival brands are being forced to jump the gun on electrification. "A lot of our competitors stand alone and they have to make bets that are more finite - 'we have to go electric' or 'we have to go autonomous.' If they get it wrong, it could be lights out for them."

Our takeaway from a couple of hours with Maserati is that there's finally a well-thought-out plan being executed, underlined with a full understanding of what the brand is and what it will become. Right now, that's not a feeling we come away from a media event with often.

We came away from Mercedes recently with a feeling it's still panicking over the move to electric and throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks while forgetting it's a carmaker that already knows how to build really good cars.

On paper, the future looks bright for Maserati, and that's a relief to be able to type. For a while there, it looked like the brand would age out with its customers and become a footnote in automotive history. Now it seems like a brand with purpose and some crazy cool-looking cars to move it forward.

And there's more on the horizon, too. When speaking of the Levante's demise and what might replace it, Peffer said, "Watch this space." And we will.