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Maserati betting big on Levante SUV

In 2014, Maserati was booming thanks to a sales spike, and executives contemplated capping production. The company's fortunes, however, have changed quickly this year. Its sales dropped 13 percent globally to 8,281 cars in the second quarter, and earnings were down 30 percent, according to Automotive News. This performance has led the company to pin its future hopes on the launch of the Levante crossover. The Levante arrives in the first half of 2016. An official debut is scheduled for sometime this year, according to the company's five-year plan, though the unveiling might be pushed back until the 2016 Detroit auto show in January, Automotive News reports. The Levante shares a platform with the Ghibli and reportedly will use its V6 engines. The crossover also is expected to have all-wheel drive. Patent drawings suggest a look reminiscent of the earlier Kubang concept (pictured above). FCA explains some of Maserati's current weakness is due to problems in China. Deliveries were down 37 percent there in the second quarter, according to Automotive News, and the country's weak economy isn't expected to let up soon. Related Video:

Swedish toymaker offers a wooden Maserati collection

In some ways, Maserati had it easier in the 1980s. We don't necessarily mean in a financial sense, or that the cars were especially reliable, but it has to be said both the Biturbo and the third generation Quattroporte are both simple, three-box shapes that are easy to re-create from blocks of solid wood. The Swedish toy company Playsam offers the Alfieri concept, the Levante SUV and open-wheel Maserati race cars in wooden toy car form, and the production portfolio is planned to be enlarged later. Maserati has plenty of classic designs for Playsam to re-create, but our tip is to look into the Biturbo style cars if they want to take a break from all those swoopy shapes you can see in the slideshow above. Maybe they could even offer the Chrysler TC by Maserati with a detachable hardtop: Those round opera windows must be really easy to drill in place. Browsing the online store, the prices for the Playsam's Maserati products are far higher than the toymaker's conventional $70 wooden toy car range, at over $370 apiece. But like the real counterparts, they should not just sit untouched: We would rather see them being used. Related Video:

The Maserati MC20's new Nettuno V6 is a high-tech showpiece

It's been more than two decades since Maserati was in the business of developing an in-house 90-degree V6 engine, and the last one it had traced its genealogy back 30 years. That story started in 1968, when Citroen took a controlling stake in Maserati, and the French requested that the Italians create an engine for the 1970 Citroen SM. Famed Maserati engineer Giulio Alfieri designed a 2.7-liter V6 producing 170 horsepower that could be built using Maserati's existing V8 tooling, hence the 90-degree angle. Alfieri then revised that V6 and bored it out to three liters, upping output to 187 hp, for use in the 1972 Maserati Merak. A decade later, Maserati – now owned by Alejandro de Tomaso, who had fired Alfieri — started with Alfieri's V6 philosophy when developing a mill for a new sports car. The resulting V6 unit, in 2.0-, 2.5-, and 2.8-liter displacements, was the first twin-turbocharged motor put into a production car. That car? The hot, gorgeous mess known as the 1984 Maserati BiTurbo. Almost 10 years on, the 1992 Maserati Ghibli II would get a 2.0-liter version of this 90-degree V6 making 306 horsepower. The 1995 Ghibli Cup turned that mill up to 330 hp, crowning the 2.0-liter V6 as the most power-dense engine in a production car, surpassing 1990s icons like the Jaguar XJ220 and original Bugatti EB110 (both 155 horsepower per liter). When the Ghibli exited production in 1998, Maserati ceded engine development duties to Ferrari by order of Fiat, which owned both automakers. 2022 Maserati MC20 View 47 Photos Nettuno, the new beating heart of Maserati Now we have the Nettuno, a 90-degree 3.0-liter V6 created to power Maserati's renaissance and making its debut in the chunky, aerodynamic form known as the MC20. At 630 horsepower and 538 lb-ft of torque, the engine almost picks up where the Ghibli Cup left off: with 210 horsepower/liter, the Nettuno is one of the most power-dense in the world. The Bugatti Chiron, Ford GT, and McLaren 756LT don't crack 200 hp/l. The only production cars in the ballpark are Euro specials like the Mercedes-AMG A45 (208.4 hp/l). Beyond it are seven-figure hypercars like the SSC Tuatara (229 hp/l) and Koenigsegg Jesko (256 hp/l on gas, 320 hp/l on E85). The word we're looking for in Italian is bentornato. Welcome back, Maserati.