New QP to get 4WD // V6 // 8 speed transmission!!!!

[conaero]

Maserati CEO Harald Wester said the next Quattroporte flagship will add four-wheel drive and a stop-start system.

Wester said the company is developing a platform that will be used for all the top-of-the-range vehicles of the Fiat-Chrysler alliance.

The target for the new Quattroporte, scheduled for 2012, is to slash weight by 15 percent and fuel consumption by 25 percent. More efficient downsized V-6 and V-8 engines and an eight-speed transmission will be part of the effort

 

[conaero]

More....

BILBAO, Spain – Maserati will add stop-start technology and four-wheel drive to its next-generation Quattroporte flagship sedan.

The luxury sports car maker aims to reduce fuel consumption by 25 percent in the new Quattroporte, CEO Maserati Harald J. Wester said.

Stop-start and a weight reduction of 15 percent compared with the current car are among measures planned to help boost fuel economy, said Wester, who is also CEO of Fiat subsidiary Alfa Romeo. Others are downsized V-6 and V-8 engines, as well as the adoption of ZF Friedrichshafen AG's eight-speed automatic transmission, which already is available in the BMW 7 series and Audi A8 upper-premium models.

Adding four-wheel drive will help the Quattroporte compete better with rival cars from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which offer the technology.

Wester said Maserati's global sales are on track to be 15 percent higher than last year when the brand's volume was 4,489, nearly 49 percent lower than 2008.

He was speaking at the Automotive News Europe Congress here last week.

 

[mowlas]

Just hope they don't rename it to the quattroqauttroporte!

Sounds very exciting but I hope they don't lose the passion in the look & feel department...

 

[conaero]

Yes it does, dont thing a V6 would go down too well, but I recon this will end up in this new sub £50k entry level M5 beater they have been harping on about.

 

[Parisien]

Yeah, sales did crash in 08/09.......wonder how long they will take to get back to the target of 10000 or so?


P

 

[mowlas]

Interesting that the CEO led the announcement on two catch-up themes i.e. sales volume and technology. There could be a risk that by concentrating on going after a share of higher volume market segments like that of the M5, they drop the ball on the very unique qualities that made the QP so different and attractive that it created a new segment that didn't really exist before...

 

[GransportFan1]

This is not good news, no V8 so the new QP will not have a lovely V8 Snarl and 8 gears, too many, there is only one car currently on sale today with 8 gears and that i believe is the Lexus IS F, 7 is enough but 8 is unnecessary.