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Maserati rapidly expanding dealer network

With the new Quattroporte and Ghibli sedans out on the market, and the new Levante crossover and Alfieri coupe on their way, Maserati is making serious headway towards revitalizing its lineup. Now all it needs in order to reach its ambitious sales targets is to expand the network of dealers where they're to be sold. And according to Maserati chief Harald Wester in speaking to Automotive News at the Paris Motor Show, that's exactly what it has in store.
At the end of last year, Maserati had 79 dealerships across the United States. It has already boosted that number to 100 so far this year, but before 2014 is over, it plans to open another 20 to bring the total up to (carry the two, divide by the square-root of Pi)... 120 showrooms.
Globally speaking, Maserati reportedly closed 2012 with around 220-230 dealers around the world, and currently has about 355, but aims to close 2015 with a worldwide network of 450 dealers, representing a doubling of its network in two years' time. Having more than a quarter of those in the US alone is testament to how seriously Maserati takes the American market.

Maserati ends GranTurismo production with one-off Zeda model

MODENA, Italy — Maserati celebrated the end of the GranTurismo's 12-year production run by building a one-off example called Zeda, which is the name of the letter Z in the Modenese dialect. The Italian firm unveiled the milestone car in the historic Modena, Italy, factory it's preparing to re-tool for a new addition to its range due out in early 2020. The Zeda is not the last GranTurismo off the production line; Autoblog visited the Modena factory minutes before the car's unveiling and spotted the last dozen or so cars behind it, but a company spokesperson explained all of the unfinished models have already been spoken for. The commemorative coupe is the last GranTurismo that hasn't been sold yet. It stands out from the roughly 40,000 examples made since the model broke cover during the 2007 Geneva Motor Show with an eye-catching paint job that starts with a deep blue applied to the front part of the car and ends with a light satin finish. The rear almost looks like bare metal in person. Edition-specific emblems on the front fenders add a finishing touch to the look.  rg-maserati-granturismo-zeda-2 View 12 Photos There are no changes under the hood. The Zeda is powered by a 4.7-liter V8 engine developed with input from former sister company Ferrari and tuned to deliver 460 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 383 pound-feet of torque at 4,740 rpm. The eight-cylinder spins the rear wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission that can be left in drive or shifted manually using paddles. Maserati hasn't decided what it will do with the GranTurismo Zeda yet. It might keep the car in its private collection, or it could sell it to a collector. Either way, the coupe will remain a one-of-a-kind example, one that marks the start of a new era for the 105-year old Italian automaker. The plant that currently builds the GranTurismo (and the Alfa Romeo 4C, which is also being phased out) will begin manufacturing a sports car that Maserati will unveil during the 2020 Geneva auto show. It's expected to arrive as a two-seater that will draw inspiration from the Alfieri concept introduced during the 2014 edition of the event. It will be a sharper, more driver-focused model than the GranTurismo, which is a grand tourer by definition. Its rivals will include the Porsche 911 and the Jaguar F-Type.

FCA inline-six rumored to be real, headed for Jeep Wagoneer

In September, Allpar reported that that clues being dropped at Fiat- Chrysler headquarters, in the carmaker's factories, and on engineer resumes pointed to the development of an inline six-cylinder engine. The site has just proclaimed the rumor is reality, writing that the straight-six, "turbocharged to meet or beat 5.7 Hemi power ratings, with a smoother torque curve, is on the way." The motor's first outing is expected to be either the next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee, debuting perhaps next year, or the Jeep Wagoneer, debuting in 2020 or 2021. "Tornado" is the purported codename for the power plant said to be just under three liters in displacement, expanding the family begun with the Global Medium Engine 2.0-liter turbo codenamed Hurricane. Engine bay constraints and a long use horizon mean engineers won't simply add two more cylinders to the GME, however. Allpar says the brief is to keep the Tornado GME-T6 — the alphanumeric for "turbocharged six" — no more than three inches longer than the Tigershark 2.4-liter four-cylinder. That means "major design changes" that could include a space-saving head, more closely spaced cylinders, and no cylinder liners. An FCA division called Comau could be called on for its "SmartSpray" plasma lining technology. Allpar muses that the standard version of the engine for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram could get a single twin-scroll turbocharger. Performance trims for Alfa Romeo and Maserati could get different heads and maybe twin turbos, an SRT version might also get both those tweaks. History shows that the Italian versions would make changes to the block, as well. Even so, the Tornado would be less expensive than any Ferrari-supplied V6. A straight-six would put FCA in company with current adopters BMW and Mercedes-Benz, future users like Jaguar, and perhaps Aston Martin. The engine would span the widest range of use cases in the U.S. carmaker's portfolio, though. Potential applications include being a base engine for Ram trucks, serving double duty as a base engine and 5.7-liter Hemi replacement for the Dodge Charger and Challenger, working in the high-end Jeeps, and as a properly hot trim — with Ferrari-designed heads — in the luxury Italian sports cars. The Alfa Romeo Giulia begs for just such motivation to fill the gap between the 280-hp, $42,695 Ti Sport RWD and the 505-hp, $73,700 Giulia Quadrifoglio RWD. And a twin-turbo inline-six in a Maserati Alfieri would stack up nicely with the Germans.