Maserati will make an electric version of all of its models by 2025, CEO Davide Grasso told reporters during a conference call on 17 March.
The company also plans to phase out all of its internal combustion engine vehicles by 2030, Grasso said, although he declined to give a firm deadline. “That’s the landing spot,” he said. “The consumer decides.”
“As of today, the plan is to offer only BEVs (battery electric vehicles) by 2030,” a spokesman confirmed in a follow-up e-mail.
Executives participating in the call described the new electric models as part of a range called Maserati Folgore. It includes a new electric GranTurismo, due out next year, and the all-new electric Grecale SUV, which will debut next week after a half-year delay due to computer chip shortages.
Fully electric versions of the MC20 supercar, electric Levante SUV and electric Quattroporte sport sedan are due out in 2025. (The MC20 Supercar is currently offered as a hybrid V6; a Spider version is slated to arrive later this year.)
The announcement came as Stellantis’s only luxury brand reported a slight increase in its global market share, to 2.4%, for 2021. Maserati’s market share increased to 2.9% and 2.7% in North America and China, respectively, according to a company report. It recorded 41% year-over-year growth last year with a total of 24 269 vehicles delivered worldwide.
Maserati has suffered from uncompetitive products and lacklustre returns as it tries to attract more female and novice buyers to its 107-year-old brand. Parent company Stellantis, formed in 2021 as a megamerger of 14 brands between PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler, has faced deep shortages of semiconductors and lingering challenges from the coronavirus pandemic.
EV hub
Earlier this month, it said it would need to cut costs and speed electrification in order to maintain double-digit returns. In October, it said it would retool its historic Turin factory into an electric vehicle hub, moving production of two Maserati luxury models to the Mirafiori plant as part of its shift.
Maserati brass did not address many specifics in the new EV plan. Grasso and Francesco Tonon, head of global product planning, declined to comment on the potential source of battery technology for the new electric range or offer any performance or mileage figures for the upcoming vehicles.
“The level of range will be satisfying to our customers,” Tonon said. They declined to say how much money they were spending on the project.
Deliveries of the Grecale will start in Europe by the northern hemisphere summer, they said, with deliveries to the US commencing soon after. — Hannah Elliott, (c) 2022 Bloomberg LP
