#NYIAS: When Is A Hit Not A Homerun? What Keeps You Away From The Maserati Levante?

Given that underneath it is an outdated Chrysler LX chassis is a major disincentive.

@MD Although your comment is true, 99.5% of buyers won't know that or likely understand it even if presented with the information. So what are the other reasons for it not selling? There is a white one I see in town once a week or so. But my guess it remains the choice for those who turn their nose up at a Cayenne, X5 or GLE. Cleary those folks are on a different path. And possibly have a Cinzano umbrella shading the table on their back deck.

The Levante doesn't look worth the money up close and personal is my guess. Couple that with ZERO advertising because Sergio's only focus is Alfa Romeo and you have the culprit. With a base price of $75K, it's also $25K too expensive. It should have been a $50K Alfa Romeo if anything. The good news is that you can get steep discounts at Maserati.

It basically looks like a "me too" SUV. Nothing about the Levante screems "MASERATI!"

It blends well with other traffic & has nothing that positively stands-out among the M-B/Audi/Jag/LR/Cadillac competition.

It needed to have A LOT more "style" to the exterior.

Anything with Maserati's name, made by Fiat/Chrysler, is a "must avoid" in my books. Today's Maseratis are not even a shadow of what the brand used to be :-(

It simply doesn't hit the mark. Its not a utility SUV on the one end nor should it be to be a Maserati and not as stylish or luxury outfitted enough on the other end to be a true Maserati. It left me flat sitting and test driving it. Some of the interior pieces were cheap and the styling underwhelming. Better luck next time Maserati.

But buyers do know that Maserati is not an everyday driver because of reliability and quality issues. Also well known are the resale values, non-existent. What does Maserati do well? Buyers of $80k vehicles are somewhat affluent. Usually that means somewhat knowledgeable about the products about they purchase. Not just about the monthly payment anymore. Find someone who uses a Maserati as an everyday driver for a couple of years and let me know what they have to say about it. I cant find one.

The interior looks dated as hell. They're really just selling based off of their name plaque, if they're selling. The exterior is attractive, IMO, but they really need to up the ante on the interior for a car of that stature.

So in the day where sedans are dead for sales and crossovers are on fire, the Levante sells no better than the Ghibli which is a sales disaster.

THe Problem is - when people think of Maserati - they think of EXOTIC cars - some of which were really styled well. THe idea that Maserati should be a Mercedes competitor does not make sense - leave that for Alfa .

However - looking at this "car" - there is nothing remotely Exotic about it. Besides being well behind the times when it comes to features - it looks like a Badge engineered mess - the rear could be from any number of Japanese crossovers - and the only thing that makes it "look" like a Maserati is the grill. Sorry - that is not enough. Does not make enough of a statement - that I would want to be "seen" in one.

EVentually - someone is going to produce a very well styled - SWOOPY (Sorry for the old term but it fits) - Exotic crossover - worth the price of a Ferrari. ANd this car will have a paragraph in auto history books as a failure.

Was in Miami recently... they seem to have a disproportionate number of Maseratis on the road including the Levante. Perhaps it is a regional thing?? Not sure on the platform questions. I see where Maserati says it is not using the LX platform but that this platform would be used for future Chrysler 300s.. and other places say it is loosely based on the LX platform. Seems to be confusion in this area. I kind of think if it was totally new Maserati would be out there denying right and left that it was based on the LX platform...

The Qporte, Ghibli, and Levante are very much Chrysler LX. There are minor suspension differences, but that's it. They are quite literally rebodied LXs. The loosely based BS comes from marketing.

I agree that it might be a regional thing. Masertai is an Italian heritage brand that is somewhat of a source of national pride.

I don't want to offend anyone, but Italians, Spainards, South and Central Americans, Gulf-States people seem to be primary customer base. Northern Europeans (to whom MB, BMW, Jaguar, Bentley, Audi) are sources of national pride seem to be less interested.

Further - you do not need AWD in the Southern European countries because it never snows or is rarely cold, so aside from the crummy platform its based on, the Levante does not function well as an SUV. Biggest glaring issue - the cargo area lift over is about 48 inches off the ground. It sucks as an SUV.

The Stelvio is a much better SUV than the Levante, even though the Stelvio is smaller.

I'm still holding out for Land Rover 2-seat roadster. (Maybe people are tiring of these shameless brand sellouts)

Underwhelming performance for the price. Test drove it and liked it, but not willing to pay the uptick for lower performance. Being a Maserati it should be equal or better to it's competition.

50% depreciation the first year keeps me away from Maserati.