The Levante, the storied Italian luxury car maker’s first SUV, will arrive in the U.S. later this year.
Add Maserati to the list of luxury marques adding an SUV to their lineups.
Maserati Levante Courtesy of Maserati
The Italian manufacturer of sports cars and sedans joins Bentley, Rolls Royce and other luxury marques embracing the inevitable with the Levante SUV, which will debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March and go on sale in the U.S. in late 2016.
Luxury brands like Rolls, Bentley, Jaguar and now Maserati are fielding SUVs to satisfy demand among their current owners, who are forced to leave the brand to purchase upmarket SUVs from Range Rover, BMW, Mercedes, Cadillac, Lincoln and Porsche.
Porsche’s experience selling SUVs has been instructive to its competitors. The Cayenne and Macan models take turns as the brand’s No. 1 selling vehicles. Following its debut in 2002, the Cayenne doubled Porsche’s market share among women and regularly outsells Porsche’s flagship 911 Carerra by large margins. Now owned by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Maserati plans to increase its market share with new models priced well below the $100,000-plus GranTurismo. The $71,000 Ghible, a luxury sedan introduced in 2013 that was reviled by purists, helped triple Maserati sales the year after its introduction .
Pricing for the Levante has not been announced but is expected to be around $79,000.
By Michael Walker Courtesy The Hollywood Reporter

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