Maserati to take a break from building sports cars

[v12v8]

Heard a rumour via a group on LinkedIn. Anyone got any more information on this or is this ?

[Yipper]

FCA is in a mess, so nothing is off the table.

[MDL111]

Didnt know maserati builds sports cars :-)

[DarrenKMC]

MDL111 said:

Didnt know maserati builds sports cars :-)

What he said!

They've toyed and teased with the idea of a small 2 seater sports car for years but I wouldn't expect anything in that sector for the next 5 years at least, hope I'm wrong though.

The GranTurismo range is what it says on the tin, a GT car and very different in character to the GranSport it replaced. I suspect when the Alfieri eventually comes along it will be a half way house rather than an outright successor to either and I believe the new GranTurismo is still in development for launch 2018/19

They had a good opportunity to share some of the development of the 4C but decided the association would weaken the finished product, that was the most likely chance we had of seeing a new 'GranSport' and now they've assigned the name to a trim level on the QP and soon Ghibli I'd say that confirms no immediate plans.

A standalone car would be too expensive to develop right now and thats before you consider the performance required for it to be successful would add further strain to the Ferrari/Maserati retail relationship.

[MDL111]

Just to add to that - i love the GranSport, which was imo as close to a sports car as they got (I exclude the MC12 as that was rather limited, expensive and a "supercar"). The more recent offerings seem more like GT cars as the above poster said

[DarrenKMC]

Yes the Gransport is a great car! Future classic for sure.

[Murph7355]

DarrenKMC said:

...
They had a good opportunity to share some of the development of the 4C but decided the association would weaken the finished product, ...

They were right.

DarrenKMC said:

...
A standalone car would be too expensive to develop right now and thats before you consider the performance required for it to be successful would add further strain to the Ferrari/Maserati retail relationship.

It's a shame they couldn't use a previous generation California to make something. Pop a Maser V6 or V8 in and job done. Extends the life of an old Ferrari platform, Maser get a go at a sports car etc.