The gorgeous Maserati Alfieri is about to make the jump from catwalk to showroom virtually unchanged, the CEO of Maser has promised to CAR magazine.
In an interview with Harald Wester published in the new January 2015 issue out today, he confirms more details of the Alfieri concept car scheduled for launch in 2016.
And a soft-top convertible is due to follow the coupe a year later. Both cars are a fitting tribute to eponymous company founder Alfieri Maserati, who set up his Modenese sports car maker 100 years ago.
You can read the full eight-page feature on the Alfieri in the new issue of CAR as part of our Maserati centenary special. Click here for a free digital sampler.
Maserati Alfieri (2016): what we know
Like the 4C/8C from sister brand Alfa Romeo, which evolved from concept to production car without major alterations, the Alfieri design exercise penned by Lorenzo Ramaciotti of Pininfarina fame won’t change much before it arrives in 2016.
True, the tight packaging must be improved, and the ergonomics will be brought up to speed, but the eye-catching shape is there to stay, Wester promises.
The Maser Alfieri is being engineered as a rival to the talented sports car category, to challenge stars such as the Porsche 911, Mercedes-AMG GT and Jaguar F-type. Expect a price around the £65,000 mark. Click here for more news on the Alfieri’s production announcement.
Alfieri engineering spec
The Alfieri photographed exclusively by CAR in the new issue is a 2+2 coupe based on the same rear-wheel drive architecture as the latest Ghibli and Quattroporte.
Four-wheel drive will be offered, then, and the base model is set to feature a turbocharged V8 mustering some 404bhp. Maserati is also engineering a new plug-in hybrid system for its range, Wester confirms.
‘The future of Maserati has already begun with Ghibli and Quattroporte,’ he tells CAR. ‘Everything else that is in the pipeline between now and 2018 will tap this DNA.
‘Maserati is also preparing an auxiliary 48V electrical system and, eventually, a plug-in application. While the 48V approach provides a kick-in-the-butt E-boost as well as enough E-power to feed the AC and the active suspension, the Ghibli PHEV must meet a tough 70g/km CO2 target.’
Maserati: a sales explosion
The slew of new products hailing from Modena explains why Fiat is confident it can grow Maser sales from 2013’s 15,000 to 50,000 in 2015 – peaking at 75,000 in 2018.
Much of that growth will come from the more sensible, family-oriented Levante SUV and the Ghibli/Quattroporte executive twins. But it’s heartening to see the Alfieri signify Maser’s not forgotten its sports car heartland.