Various luxury car makers are fast coming up with volume generating offerings to keep themselves afloat in these times of economic fluctuations.
Such are the conditions that BMW owned Rolls Royce group, arguably the most premium of car makers on this earth, was compelled to come up with an entry level model to keep the sales from falling. The car in question here, the RR Ghost, is loosely based on the 7 series and is a good option for those who aspire to buy a Phantom but have been suffering due to the erratic economy.
Italian premium car maker Maserati too has been working on a new entry level model that it intends to position below the Quattroporte. While the RR Ghost is still a more expensive alternative to the Merc S Class and the BMW 7 Series, the new Maser, which will be called the Ghibli, will battle it out against the BMW M5, Audi S6, Jaguar XFR-S and the likes.
It has emerged that the new Maserati sedan will be launched at the Shanghai Motor Show that is scheduled to be held in April.
The 2014 Maserati Ghibli (Codenamed M157) is based on a modified version of the new Quattroporte’s platform and will be about 4,900mm long. This would make the car considerably shorter (read: 300 mm) than the Quattroporte.
The car will come with an option of all-wheel drive and will share the subframe and electrically adjustable suspension with the flagship sedan.
Lorenzo Ramaciotti, the chief designer of the new Quattroporte, has also been supervising the design of the Ghibli and the cars are expected to share a lot of design cues between each other.
Engine options for the 2014 Maserati Ghibli include a 385bhp 3.0-litre V6 petrol, a 480bhp 3.8-litre twin turbocharged V8 petrol and a 3.0-litre V6 diesel with an approx power output of 270bhp. All the engines will come mated to a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission.
The Ghibli will be produced at the carmaker’s Bertone plant and prices are expected to start around USD 75,000.
Maserati is aiming at an annual sales target of 50000 cars in 2015 with the new Quattroporte, upcoming Levante SUV, GranTurismo, GranCabrio and Ghibli.