Maserati Expects Its New Quattroporte Flagship Sedan to Boost Sales

Maserati plans to boost sales and challenge Porsche with its new Quattroporte flagship sedan.

The new Quattroporte flagship sedan is Maserati’s 6th generation of its four-door model, and it has debuted today, December 10th in Nice. The model reaches a top speed of 307 kilometers (191 miles) per hour and it cuts fuel consumption by 20%.

“The new Quattroporte represents the start of an industrial revolution for Maserati,” said Harald Wester, the brand’s chief executive officer. “The new Quattroporte will close the power gap the old version had with the fastest Porsche Panamera, while maintaining its unique driving feeling.”

Fiat, which owns Maserati, plans to sell 15,000 Quattroportes in 2013 at the price of 150,000 euro ($193,000) in Europe, and be a tough competitor for the Porsche Panamera Turbo. Fiat’s CEO Sergio Marchionne relies on Maserati’s expansion, part of his turn around plan regarding Fiat’s European operations. As the Italian carmaker expects a loss of 700 million euro by the end of this year, the company focuses more on exporting higher- margin luxury cars outside the loss-making European market.

“There is space, obviously, which is currently being occupied exclusively by German producers that I think Maserati has access to,” Marchionne said when presenting Fiat’s turnaround plan in late October.