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Maserati says no to all-electric future, says U.S. chief

The future internal combustion remains questionable as automakers push for electrification. But not for Maserati, according to a report from Motor Trend on an investor call discussing first-quarter earnings. According to the outlet, FCA CEO Michael Manley and Maserati North America's head honcho, Al Gardner, made it known on the call that Maserati does not have any plans to say goodbye to good 'ol gasoline power. Rather, the company is planning to embrace electrification in different ways, such as hybridization. "This is a brand that needs combustion engines. It needs that raw emotion," Gardner told reporters at the conference. He also noted it's important for the company to get "back to its roots," citing the company's start with race cars before offering consumer vehicles. Maserati's electrification will begin as part of its model line overhaul leading up to 2022 that is also supposed to help reverse Maserati's slumping sales. Gardner noted that a new sports car will mark the start of the revamp, and we expect it will be a production version of the hotly anticipated and very sexy Alfieri Concept car. We may even see the car at Geneva next year. After that will be a new crossover smaller than the Levante, along with hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants with a few select electric vehicles. Maserati won't be the only automaker embracing electrification, as Jaguar, Volkswagen and Porsche are all pushing toward the new powertrain technology. Unlike Maserati, some of these brands are going all-in on electric cars. Volkswagen will release its last new internal combustion engine in 2026. Volvo's Polestar brand will only have pure EVs after the Polestar 1 sports car.

Maserati releases quartet of videos featuring new Quattroporte

In case you missed it, Maserati has decided to introduce the world to its next Quattroporte well ahead of its official debut at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show in January. As expected, it's beautiful.
Not content to leave well enough alone, the Italian automaker has revealed a series of videos to go along with the six images and press release it had already let loose upon the globe's unsuspecting automotive press.
We're still a bit shaky on the details, but Maserati says the Quattroporte's new engine, assembled by Ferrari in Maranello, will "[establish] new benchmarks for Maserati in terms of power and acceleration." That sounds good to us, though we're not sure if that means 530 horsepower as possibly alluded to by the license plate on the press shots. We also note that the automaker says the car is designed to accept "a wide range of engine architectures," so that rumored supercharged V6 sounds likely.

Zagato to reveal new Maserati-powered Mostro at Villa d'Este

Zagato has a record of collaborating with some of Europe's finest automakers, but it's the storied past it shares with Maserati that the coachbuilder will be celebrating at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este this summer. And that's where Zagato will reveal the Mostro, previewed here. The coachbuilt custom pays tribute to the 1957 Maserati 450 S – known as "il Mostro" for its monstrous power. The Zagato-bodied coupe (one of its last designs not to use the Kamm tail) was commissioned and raced by Stirling Moss at Le Mans, and supposedly remained the most powerful front-engined racecar in the world into the 1990s. This modern tribute is built around a carbon monocoque, with a dry-sump Maserati V8 mounted up front but between the axles for optimal weight distribution, driving a six-speed semi-automatic rear transaxle. The design comes from the same studio that gave us such recent creations as the Alfa Romeo TZ3 and Perana Z-One, and shares some similar design traits, but with quasi-pontoon front fenders capping the long nose and swept-back greenhouse. In correspondence with Autoblog, Zagato confirms that the Mostro is designed for the track, but will be "ready for street homologation." The carrozzeria will build five examples before Maserati's current centenary year is over. Each has already been spoken for, though none are headed to customers in the US. Coachbuilders seldom reveal pricing for this type of project (particularly when they've all been pre-sold), but we're told that "none of Zagato's atelier cars exceed 1 million. As collectible cars, the value of a Zagato typically overcomes the purchasing price within a few years." We'll look forward to seeing the finished product in full once it's ready. In the meantime you can view it – along with a brief pictorial history of the relationship between Maserati and Zagato – in the slideshow above and the details in the trio of texts below. Related Video: Mostro powered by Maserati at the 2015 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este Cernobbio, May 2015. The Mostro powered by Maserati is the latest creation of Zagato's current Iconic decade, a new tradition for the atelier that began at the end of coachbuilder's Neoclassical period (2000-2010) to celebrate the most iconic models of automotive history. Marking the delivery of the first customer car, Zagato will present the new Mostro as a world premiere at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este.