It looks korean. People will buy it, because it's Maserati. Just like they did with extremely ugly first generation Cayenne.
I wonder how much this disaster will cost? Also, I have a feeling that the interior will not be a true Maserati/Italian, in keeping theme with the exterior and underlying base of the car. Ironically, that will mean that the interior will probably actually have halfway decent fit and finish and ergonomics, but will lack the rich depth of a true hand crafted Italian interior in favor of something bulky/futuristic/gimmicky/complex/American-ized/Japanese-ized. (predictably). Also, Pininfarina clearly didn't design this, which makes it sort of "un-Maserati" in itself, as they did do the QP and GT.
I'm also surprised that people aren't pointing out how weird it is that this Maserati is a Mercedes (ML) underneath as well.
Most people just don't give a dam about this frankenstein. I still think this Maserati+Chrysler marriage is a desperate move because Fiat/Ferrari didn't put in enough resources to properly develop the Maserati brand in the past decade.
That's definitely probably the case. Maserati's aren't very good cars. I researched a QP before I bought my E, because I was thinking of buying a Used one, and all that I gathered was that it is an utter POS, down to all the poorly fit and shoddy interior panels. Even the Maser GT, which I love, a friend of mine drives his Bosses from time to time, and he said that although it's beautiful, the word "clunker" describes it best. Oddly enough, the quality control of Chrysler will immensely improve Maserati's, and this SUV being an American Jeep Grand Cherokee hybrid with a Mercedes ML might actually make it the first technically quality Maserati. Although, with that, it will probably become more clinical and lose about all of that Italian hand-crafted Soul.
The concept's interior: of course, keeping in mind that this is a concept, expect it to be toned down in production guise. Now regarding, the design....call me crazy, but I like it. It's certainly a Q7-FX-Cayenne bastard child, but it works. I think the Maser grille works well on an SUV as to convey aggression. And if the info is true that, Paolo Martinelli will have a significant input with the powertrain, then this ought to be promising.
Looks like I called it! Lol. It's definitely all Conceptualized though, the real thing will be more down to earth I'm sure.
I completely forgot this was an M-class chassis. One saving grace Chrysler got out of the whole mess and now benefitting Maserati.
That's what I thought after the global financial crisis but it seems the market for luxury-SUVs is still very lucrative profit-wise, at least based on this and the upcoming Bentley-SUV.
Maybe in Western Europe and US, the SUV craze is quieting down, but at the higher end of the price spectrum I think there will be a steady demand. And that's not mentioning the surging demand in the Mid-East, Russia, etc.
That interior doesn't look like a Jeep either, but it needs some serious work...which I'm sure it will get before the production model debuts. I'm almost beside myself because I actually like the way the exterior looks. If they present it right and it has some serious performance, it may sell like hotcakes and take a bite out of RR and Cayenne sales. M
If they price it right, the thing will sell like Big Macs. It can have 300 HP and it'll sell like McDonalds French Fries out here, as long as it fits within the budget of upper income Suburban Housewives and their baby daddies (a bulky SUV with a premium badge goes a LOOOONG way in the States).
You are very right. The economic argument is there for a Maserati SUV. It's bandwagon thinking of 'everyone else is doing it so I will also do it'.
I don't get what the significance is here? They're just design sketches/drawings based on the car we've already seen. M
