2005 Maserati Gransport Coupe 2-door Special Custom Show Vehicle/daily Driver on 2040-cars

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Maserati ramping up production of Ghibli, Quattroporte

While Porsche may be relatively new to the four-door game, Maserati has been building the Quattroporte with few interruptions since 1963. But like its rival from Stuttgart, the Trident marque is rapidly shifting from a sports car company primarily to a manufacturer of high-end family transportation. Not only does it have the new Quattroporte on the market, but now it's got the Ghibli sedan as well and the Levante crossover on its way.
It's a gambit that's reaping huge benefits not only for Maserati itself but also for its newly merged parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which is finding the mass market less lucrative than it once was and is positioning both Maserati and Alfa Romeo against other luxury marques like BMW, Audi and Porsche. As a result, Maserati is considerably expanding its production.
Last month, Maserati sold over 3,000 cars, putting it on track to double its sales from 2013. But it's not about to stop there. With growing demand for its authentically Italian luxury sedans, Maserati is shifting more workers to its assembly plant in the Turinese suburn of Grugliasco (where the QP and Ghibli are made) and shortening vacation time to ramp production up from 750 cars per week to 900.

2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo offers unlimited headroom and 621 hp

Maserati is returning to the convertible segment after a brief hiatus with a topless version of the MC20 named Cielo. The roadster offers the same twin-turbocharged V6 engine and carbon fiber chassis as its coupe counterpart but it gains a power-retractable glass roof panel. "Cielo" means "sky" in Italian — it's a fitting name. Visually, the MC20 Cielo is nearly identical to the MC20 coupe from the rocker panels to the belt line. It's what's above that counts: Maserati fitted the roadster with a glass roof panel that opens or closes at the push of a button in about 12 seconds. The space that it occupies is located behind the passenger compartment so engineers had to redesign the decklid, and the engine is no longer visible through a glass cover. We're told that the transformation adds only about 143 pounds to the MC20 for a curb weight of roughly 3,400 pounds. Maserati planned the convertible model from the get-go so few compromises were made during the development process. The Cielo keeps the cool butterfly-style doors, and it offers the same amount of cabin and trunk space as the coupe. Folding away in a couple of seconds isn't the roof's only trick: it can go from clear to opaque in a matter of seconds thanks to Polymer-Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC) technology. Like the coupe, the MC20 Cielo is powered by Maserati's excellent 3.0-liter Nettuno V6 engine. The mid-mounted six is twin-turbocharged to 621 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque, and it spins the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. Maserati quotes a zero-to-62-mph time of approximately 3 seconds and a top speed of around 200 mph, which sounds like a quick and fun way to dry your hair. Brembo-built six-piston front and four-piston rear brake calipers keep the engine's power in check. Built in Italy, the 2023 Maserati MC20 Cielo will reach showrooms in the coming months. Pricing will be announced closer to the model's on-sale date. At launch, buyers will be able to order a limited-edition version called PrimaSerie Launch Edition that stands out from the standard model with a specific, three-layer paint color called Acquamarina that was initially developed for Maserati's customization program.

Bizarre Levante mule proves SUV will ride on Maserati platform

When Chrysler was developing the current Jeep Cherokee, matte black, lifted Alfa Romeo Giuliettas weren't an unusual site around the company's Auburn Hills, MI headquarters. That's because the Jeep rides on a modified version of the Alfa's platform.
Judging by these images, Maserati is following a similar path for the upcoming Levante. The presence of the modified and lifted Ghibli basically confirms that the company will look in-house for the new CUV's platform rather than outsource it to Jeep (otherwise, we'd be seeing modified Grand Cherokees running about).
The mule's Ghibli body has been fitted with a number of tweaks. Most notable are the higher roof and stretched wheel arches, which we're guessing are an attempt at increasing the sedan's center of gravity and width, respectively, in a bid to match the eventual production model.