Italian marque Maserati has launched its first sports utility vehicle (SUV) model in China to revitalise sales in a cooling luxury car market.
The SUV model, Levante, will drive Maserati China sales to double-digit growth this year, said Mirko Bordiga, managing director of Maserati China.
The Italian premium brand is targeting current Maserati owners and other affluent Chinese, he said.
?Many of our customers have two cars in their garages and normally the other one is a SUV. We are targeting a new group of people who need a spacious SUV as a family car,? Bordiga told the South China Morning Post .
Maserati launched the SUV model, priced at 999,800 yuan (HK$1.2 million), on Monday at the Beijing auto show.
?Last year, about 132,000 cars in the luxury SUV segment were sold in China, I think we can grab a few thousands from this market with the Levante,? he said. The market size of China?s luxury SUV segment is more than double that of the premium segment currently targeted by Maserati, Bordiga said.
China?s economic slowdown and the government?s anti-corruption campaign have weighed on the luxury car market. Popular premium brands such as Germany?s Audi saw a 1.4 per cent drop in sales last year, its first decline in 26 years, while BMW?s sales growth slowed to 1.7 per cent.
Maserati?s total sales last year fell 4.1 per cent to 31,500 as demand weakened in its two largest markets, US and China, the brand?s owner Italian carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said in its annual ...