Maserati’s mass market approach

Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler, has set a typically astronomic target for Fiat’s Maserati subsidiary. By 2015, he intends the luxury sports car maker to be selling 10 times as many cars as today: an increase from fewer than 6,000 in 2011 to about 60,000. The extra volume will come, Maserati hopes, from two new models that will use Chrysler platforms and components. The Kubang SUV (above) unveiled at Frankfurt in September is built on a Jeep Grand Cherokee platform and the forthcoming sports saloon, smaller and cheaper than the existing Quattroporte, will share components with the Chrysler 300. Interesting that both the Grand Cherokee and 300 started development when Chrysler was part of DaimlerChrysler and still incorporate Mercedes technology.