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2021 Maserati Quattroporte Trofeo First Drive Review | For the Ferrari faithful

Maserati is fighting hard for relevance right now. Its car lineup is severely dated with both the Quattroporte and Ghibli. The Levante faces more accomplished competition. At least there is hope on the horizon in the form of the Alfa — ahem, Maserati — MC20 mid-engine supercar and high-tech Nettuno engine. Plus, with the Grecale crossover soon to come, there could be brighter days ahead. ThatÂ’s tomorrow, but today we still have the vanguards of the early 2010s. The current flagship, more or less by default, is the big Quattroporte, and Maserati is giving it the Trofeo treatment for 2021 in an effort to bring it back onto our radar. Previous to now, the Trofeo trim was limited to the Levante. In the Quattroporte, the Trofeo formula is similar. It plops in the unbridled version of the Ferrari-sourced 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 engine — red wrinkle paint and all — making 580 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque. It is, without a doubt, the brightest and best part of this car. The most potent version previous to now was the Quattroporte GTS with its 530-horse version of the same Ferrari V8. Very little is done to the exterior to let you know this Quattroporte is the Trofeo apart from the script on the front fenders that are accentuated with red-painted side air ducts. Beyond this, the C-pillarÂ’s Maserati logo gets a red lightning bolt, and more carbon fiber trim is used throughout. It also comes with 21-inch forged aluminum wheels, a glossy black grille finish and the same restyled taillights applied throughout the 2021 Quattroporte lineup. Unlike “look-at-me” performance offerings from Mercedes-AMG or BMW's Alpina, MaseratiÂ’s Trofeo is notably subtle. This not only goes for the Trofeo extras, but the Quattroporte in general. The big trident in the grille announces its presence, but just as it's been from the beginning, the current-generation Quattroporte simply fades into the background in a parking lot. Our test car's beige paint certainly doesn't help. While most prefer their big luxury sedans to be restrained and tasteful, aren't Italian sedans supposed to have a certain degree of excitement and flare?  At least the Trofeo will be recognizable by the sound it makes. Even with a pair of turbochargers attached, the Ferrari engine and exhaust note are unmistakable. Although the V8 is the same basic engine as the Levante Trofeo's, the Quattroporte version gets new turbochargers, stronger internal components and new camshafts and valves.

2022 Maserati Grecale SUV begins prowling the streets of Modena

Maserati has started testing the Grecale, its second SUV, on the streets of Modena, Italy. Aimed directly at the Porsche Macan, the Levante's smaller sibling will take the 107-year old Italian firm into a lucrative new segment. Klaus Busse, the head of Maserati's design department, told Autoblog that the new MC20 coupe points to the direction stylists will take the rest of the range in, and official spy shots give us a better idea of what he meant. It looks like the Grecale's front end is dominated by an oval grille shaped a lot like the MC20's. An image we took at the company's headquarters in the fall of 2020 provides an even clearer view of what the model will look like. Its overall proportions remind us of the Levante's, meaning it's far more sporty than utilitarian — you didn't think Maserati would try to rain on the Ford Bronco's parade, did you? Even several layers of psychedelic camouflage can't mask the shapely quarter panels and the sloping roof line accented by a spoiler.  It's too early to tell what's under the camouflage, let alone what's lurking beneath the sheet metal, but unverified rumors claim the Grecale shares its basic underpinnings with the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, which is widely praised as one of the best-driving SUVs on the market. If the report is accurate, Maserati's next SUV could land with four- and six-cylinders on its palette of available engines. One might be the 3.0-liter Nettuno developed for the MC20. Maserati will take the Grecale on a world tour to put it through its paces in the freezing cold, in triple-digit heat, on challenging race tracks, and even on a few off-road trails. Its official unveiling is scheduled for later in 2021, and series production will start in Cassino, Italy, shortly after. We expect to see it in America as a 2022 model. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2022 Maserati Grecale, official spy shots Maserati SUV Luxury Performance

Share price falls on skepticism of Chrysler-Fiat five-year plan

Following this week's Fiat Chrysler extravaganza, where the Italian-American manufacturer announced its plans for the next five years, the Autoblog staff was cautiously optimistic of the company's future. Investors? Not so much.
Fiat saw its shares tumble 12 percent in Wednesday's trading, falling from 8.67 euros ($12.06 at today's rates) to 7.44 euros ($10.35) as of this writing, with blame partly going to the Italian half of the FCA marriage, which recorded a pretty significant drop in profits during the first quarter of this year.
The plan, which will cost around $77 billion over the next several years, is facing criticism from investors thanks in part to a 1.4-percent drop in Fiat's first-quarter profits, to 622 million euros ($862 million). That figure is also short of Bloomberg analysts' projections, which predicted $1.18 billion in profits before taxes, interest and one-time items.