Maserati’s new MC20 supercar is meant to reinvent the Italian carmaker’s brand – and a new Quattroporte sedan, Levante SUV and GranCabrio are also in the works – but is it more reliable than the Giulia?
Compared to Lamborghini and McLaren for its US$210,000 price tag and the Alfa Romeo Giulia for its short production time, the MC20 is flashy, speedy and exciting – but will it fix Maserati’s sales slump?
If, over the past few years, you’ve found yourself wondering what exactly was up at Maserati, you weren’t alone.
For a decent while, the Italian brand only offered four cars: the Levante SUV, launched in 2016; the Quattroporte and Ghibli sedans, launched in 2013; and the aged GranTurismo grand tourer, launched in 2007 and ceased production last year.
Poor sales have plagued the brand since at least 2018. In November of that year, car news website Automotive News said Maserati’s earnings dropped by 87 per cent in the third quarter.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Michael Manley blamed the poor performance on brand mismanagement. At a conference in 2018, he said, “With hindsight, when we put Maserati and Alfa [Romeo] together, it did two things. Firstly, it reduced the focus on Maserati the brand. Secondly, Maserati was treated for a period of time almost as if it were a mass-market brand, which it isn’t and shouldn’t be treated that way.”
A separate Automotive News story in August 2019 said Maserati would not see profitability until it began its new product launches this year. And it desperately needed some new products.
Now, we finally have some.
It signals the beginning of a new era of Maserati
Enter the MC20 supercar – “MC” standing for Maserati Corse and “20” for 2020. Debuting in a September live-stream from Modena, Italy in a show of flashing lights, a drum routine and a choreographed choral number – of all things – the MC20 became Maserati’s first entirely new car since the Levante’s launch in 2016.
It was trotted out before an assembly of existing Maserati cars in a big stadium – not unlike the way Simba was presented to the animal kingdom, assembled at the foot of Pride Rock – and marked the brand’s first flagship halo car since the prohibitively expensive and rare MC12 from 2004.
Maserati didn’t go to MC12 levels with the new car, which made it a much more appropriate halo car. Its on-paper performance and sticker price, US$210,000 at the lowest, put it side-by-side with McLarens and Lamborghinis.
It is on the shoulders of the MC20 that Maserati will kick off its new era of reinvention. Don’t expect a Maserati IPO à la Ferrari, but do expect an ambitious plan from Manley: the launching of 13 new Maserati models from now through 2024, led by the MC20.