Place Your BETS! Maserati's Financials Are Floundering, It NEEDS Success From The Levante SUV — Will It SAVE The Company Or FLOP?

This is what Infiniti would look like if they looked a little prettier.

But to answer your question, even though SUVs are all the rage in North America, Maserati is a niche player in that space and continent, so no, I don't believe SUVs will turn the company around any more than I believe SUVs will rescue Lotus.

I see Porsche Cayenne buyers checking this out but guessing it will just be a gussied up Grand Cherokee (great start) but I am guessing the buyers want more exclusivity especially at the price they will likely charge (too much)

Marchionne & his FCA cronies are complete fools! Instead of re-investing, wasting valuable resources based clearly on historical pride & past prominence, Maserati, which is essentially a has-been, dead brand along with it's stable mate Alfa Romeo, should have both been shelved completely or sold off along time ago.

As a lower priced stablemate to Ferrari - and the producer of sedans and SUV's that Ferrari would not produce - Maserati would have done reasonably well - but FCA decided to spin off Ferrari - making them the competition again. In that case - Maserati has no chance.

If it were me - I would not have chosen to attempt to revive BOTH Alfa and Maserati - their offerings must clearly overlap. Another Buick and Oldsmobile type problem. In fact = the biggest problem is that there are TOO many different BRANDS out there that are not clearly defined.

Maserati should have gotten the Ghibli and the Giulia, and Alfa Romeo should have been FWD/AWD between Chrysler and Maserati.

@ - TomM

Personally, I think that FCA should have sat it's Italian egotism aside & completely eliminated Maserati, Alfa Romeo & Lancia altogether or completely packaged the brands to sell as a unit.

Fiat would be perfectly fine as a standalone, worldwide mass market Italian car company. And Ferrari could follow the route Lamborghini & other pure sports car manufactures have taken, which is to also produce sedan or SUV/CUV model. A sport/luxury-sport Ferrari sedan (possibly two) would be a awesome addition to the lineup if it were still somewhat exclusive based on pricing & limited availability.

@monopoly one
While other "sports car" manufacturers have produced an SUV - those that have done so are parts of a large conglomerate trying to get every last possible dollar - regardless of the consequences. I do not believe Ferrari should ever produce an SUV - and I do not believe they will have to either - they can continue to limit their production and sell every car they make.

As far as FCA - their problem is that they have virtually no new platforms - their engine technology is behind the times - but they have designers who know how to push buttons on consumers that others manufacturers have had difficulty doing. They would be out of business without Jeep. And they make the majority of their profits on the American Chrysler products. They needed BIG money to finance their new cars - and their only major asset that could do it was to sell Ferrari. Maserati and Alfa (And Lancia)are not worth a cent right now - and a purchaser would have ended them to get Ferrari. They are the equivalent of Oldsmobile - Pontiac - and Saturn - middle brands with no appeal. FCA just has TOO MANY BRANDS to support - period

Once they knew that Ferrari would be gone - I can understand them trying to replace it - with Maserati - which of course they cannot yet do until they get the Ferrari Money. However - it should have been either Maserati - or ALFA - not both.

But when you look at it - what cars DOES Fiat have? Only one really.
The rest are ancient. I do not see much of a future for FCA altogether.

@ - TomM

You may specifically be thinking of Fiat USA & not Fiat globally. Not only does the 500 sell very well, but their European models the Panda & Punto are the both ranked the top selling cars in Italy (Panda No.1 & Punto No.2 respectfully). This is why I mentioned that FCA doesn't need Alfa, Maserati or Lancia any longer as these brands are, most the part, has been car companies with no real sales numbers worldwide or in their respective parent country to justify overall future investment & support. The only other car that is successful sale-wise in Italy, the Lancia Ypsilon (ranked 3rd in overall sales June/2015) is nothing but a small compact classified as a "supermini" that could be easily turned into a Fiat model as well.

Also even though I see your point in regards to SUV's, Porsche was a separate brand unto itself at the time the original Cayenne SUV produced & not under complete ownership by VW, nor did VW have any direct control decision wise regarding product development. I also agree that Ferrari definitely shouldn't do a SUV/CUV, however a super duper sport sedan would be a wonderful model for the brand which would probably be a hot seller.

And FCA actually has a chance to prosper & grow in the future only due to the American brands. Jeep isn't the only single driving force for FCA, as the Ram brand is also doing very well. The new Charger, Challenger, Durango & 200 are selling like hotcakes & even the Dart has picked up steam from it's previous lack luster sales. The issue for FCA long term is based on making the right decisions strategically, which in my opinion is focusing on the American brands exclusively while eliminating all the dead weight with their nearly extinct Italian brands.

@monopoly1
I actual do and have done a lot of world travel in my job = and I know about Fiat Sales in Italy - but that does not change the fact that in the rest of the world - Fiat is almost comatose - nor does it change that the cars are out dated as well. The new Chrysler 200 is already overweight. While it sells well in the USA - I suspect lower oil prices have something to do with that. As the manufacturers bring out newer mid-size models -the 200 is going to age quickly. However - moving the CHRYSLER brand downmarket to compete with Ford and Chevy may - at least for a while - get help from the fact that traditionally - Chrysler was considered a Buick entry level Luxury brand.

And while the RAM brand trucks appear to be doing well - they are again already on old platforms and need large amounts of cash to develop them enough to compete with the new Aluminum Trucks that we will have.

But - in order to survive - FCA needs an international Upscale car from which it can derive higher margins - FIAT certainly does not garner those. Ferrari was the cash cow - and without Ferrari - they need to replace it with something - or the profits from the USA will be eaten up pretty quickly. Marketing two different names costs more money than one - so I would have picked ONE name. Chosing two creates additional costs - and overlap in product.

Ghibli Hellcat would be brilliant

Do not care for the looks...a step back for Maserati whose designs are almost always striking. Predict a flop.

No it won't save them on its own, they really need to get a new Grandtourismo model out as well as a new Quatroport (or whatever it is called... Too much wine tonight).

Marchionne maybe a good financial man, but he is obviously not a paetrolhead, see maserati, see fiat and most recently alfa. He needs italian design and not vanilla flavor and quality. Keep 90% of ferrari , invest in fiat and alfa, forget maserati.

What Marchionne needs right now is Product Development money - for New Platforms and Powerplants - that they have almost nothing current already.

The only thing of value he has is Ferrari - so he has no choice but to sell that.

This is where we all agree while disagree. LOL! My opinion is that Marchionne should have sold Alfa, Maserati & Lancia either separately or together. This would have given them the extra money they needed to revamp the existing brands products while the brands losing money wouldn't be eating into the other brands profit margins. Plus a lot of cash which could be used to potentially invest into the cash cow vehicles, future models or platforms & powerplants is being used now to continually prop up a failing Alfa & Maserati. FCA then could have raised additional funds by selling a small stake in Ferrari 30% - 40% while still keeping the controlling interest of the company which would have allowed FCA to keep a premium brand on board. As I've mentioned, Ferrari could then do a few high end 4 door sport/sport luxury sedans to take the place of the missing Maserati models which beside China, aren't selling that well anyway.

@ - TomM

"I actual do and have done a lot of world travel in my job = and I know about Fiat Sales in Italy - but that does not change the fact that in the rest of the world - Fiat is almost comatose."

Actually this is inaccurate. Fiat models are some of the best selling cars in all of Europe. The data below is based on the top 100 selling automobiles within Europe (44 European countries) for 2014. The problem with Fiat (specifically Europe) is their limited lineup of vehicles, not actual sales results.

#17: Fiat 500 - 165,342
#23: Fiat Panda - 152,016
#54: Fiat Punto - 92,202
#55: Fiat 500 L - 92,023

#78: Lancia Ypslion - 61,586

"And while the RAM brand trucks appear to be doing well - they are again already on old platforms and need large amounts of cash to develop them enough to compete with the new Aluminum Trucks that we will have."

While the Ram trucks may eventually need a complete overhaul platform wise, the brand will continue on with it's existing, current platform which for now won't hurt overall sales or profits in the near future. Also GM hasn't updated or won't be investing in a newer platform for it's large trucks for quite sometime either, however sales for GM's line of trucks are still brisk. Plus based on many reviews & comparisons, the all new Ford trucks aren't exactly winning over many analysts or consumers in regards to the "supposedly" better Ford aluminum-alloy body, plus truck sales for the F-150 are also down this year from 2014.