Today's Levante Update (it could change tomorrow of course)

[MAF260]

MAF naturally likes it because he is a Ghibli owner!

Indeed! Interior looks exactly as I thought - an extension of the current line-up. Nothing wrong with that, I love the (red) interior of mine. I like both the old and the new. My GranSport hasn't been changed because the GranTurismo just isn't sufficiently different aside from looks. I think I want a Stradale, but I haven't decided why I want it when I still own the GS - hence the reason for an Alfieri order as a hopeful 'upgrade' to a modern GS successor. Only with a V8, though.

 

[conaero]

To be fair the Alfieri did have a totally different interior, thankfully.

 

[Rwc13]

I'm rather liking the different seats with the higher back and more integrated style headrests. And I'm guessing the round controller behind the gear lever is suspension/AWD adjustment or something similar

 

[daverichardson]

Looks ok apart from the colour!

 

[Bianco]

Ha ha...stuck in there ways; no doubt there are some who fit that profile. The only thing I'm stuck on is a sports car manufacturer making just that.

Inside looks nice, just like the cars it is based on... I guess the key thing will be the cost compared to the likes of the x5 / Range Rover and porker.

Rumour across the usual online news outlets is that it will start at around £55k.

 

[ChrisQP09]

If its got a 4.7, I can grow to like it

 

[StuartW]

I like the look of that interior but I can't help but wonder, how can Autoexpress got the inside track on this? It seems all things Levante are so hush, hush maybe the magazine has published a pic of the Ghibli interior with a few revisions of their own and claimed they have an exclusive first look?

 

[bigbob]

If its got a 4.7, I can grow to like it

That engine dies when the GranTurismo dies. At least I have one in my garage, just need to look after it as it will
soon be an antique!

 

[allandwf]

That engine dies when the GranTurismo dies. At least I have one in my garage, just need to look after it as it will
soon be an antique!

I think your correct, more's the pity.

 

[Ewan]

We have a full fat supercharged Range Rover and an Evoque, both of which do their jobs brilliantly. But the RR will need changing soonish, and I'll certainly look at one of these. And if it comes in around the £60k mark, that's even cheaper than an RR Sport, let alone an RR. I appreciate it may not be quite as big as the RR, but that's unlikely to be an issue for me.

Outside of the Land Rove stable, this is the first SUV/4x4 that has held any appeal at all to me. Mainly because of the badge, obviously.

I hope they do it in blue.

 

[Guest 1678]

I'd like to see the interior, but could have a good guess what it looks like. If it's anything like the Ghibli/QP it'll be a very nice place to be indeed. IMO most SUVs look quite similar, it is the face of them that makes the difference. This looks sufficiently different (in a good way!) so stands its own ground. We definitely seem to have a large amount of members who instantly want to hate anything new produced by Maserati for reasons I'm not privy to. The Ghibli is an excellent example of this. Maybe it's a forum of old farts completely entrenched in their old-fashioned ways who fondly remember the once 'golden era' (the time when the car they currently own was built!) and want to stay there. The world has changed and Maserati need to build cars with more mass appeal than ever before. They're still great looking, well built, comfortable and fast. What's not to like?
I'll certainly be looking at the Levante as a potential family wagon when the time comes.

With a 2004 Gransport my golden era was about 5000 cars sold in total, mainly thanks to the QP5 launch. No way the marque would survive unless like Ferrari you build 7,000 cars with an average price of £200k+. As much as I love the Trident it does not have that sort of pull and cannot therefore sustain a low volume existence.

Porsche sales in 2001, the launch year of the Cayenne - circa 55,000. Sales in 2014 - circa 189,000. Whether you like them or not, they have launched some cracking sports cars Cayman GT4 comes to mine along with the various 997 special editions. All possible on the back of a solid full range of vehicles.

If mass appeal means the marque survives then I would be grateful. The true issue is whether there is enough of that magic in the cars produced to at least tickle the heart strings, if not tug at them. The cars have to be as competent as the competition but hopefully have just that little something. Being a viable alternative to the German hegemony does not mean directly copying, but at least matching and providing a little more emotion.

 

[Contigo]

It's mad really when you consider the number of units sold since 1914 times, Maserati started off as a family tuning company then not until around the mid 20's did the manufacture their first car (Tipo 26) and sold literally a handful to various race teams. The first production road car not coming until a few decades later in the form of the 3500GT (1956).

If you look at their checkered history since the late 60's it is evident that they sold more and more as the link between their racing heritage and car producer weakened. They were passed from pillar to post and faced bankruptcy on numerous occasions but despite all of this the brand survived. Even after the dreadful De Tomaso Bi-Turbo era the brand was resurrected under Ferrari ownership and this period in history is responsible for the awesome cars we celebrate each day on this forum. The new Era of Maserati cars under FCA control whilst lacking the real racing DNA injected to the Trident over the previous 5 decades are still relevant and will hopefully revive the spark which we have lost on numerous occasions under brand ownership.

Whilst not exactly an ambassador for their current range of vehicles I really do celebrate them and look forward to them spawning the future generations of cars which I hope have some of that classic Maserati DNA.

 

[Andyk]

Well, as I said...Liz said it looked like a Lexus where as Dan has said he likes it...So it is definitely splitting the Keedwell house hold. Just Alex to ask now.