Finally, it’s here. This month, Maserati will take the curtain off its first SUV, the Levante. After months of delay, Maserati’s first SUV, the Levante, is finally presented at the Geneva Motor Show. Maserati draws attention with a teaser.
It all started in 2003, when Maserati unveiled the Kubang GT Wagon at the Detroit Motor Show. Designed by Italdesign, the GT Wagon was based on the Audi A8 platform, but it never came to a concrete collaboration between Maserati and Audi and the production plans for the Kubang GT Wagon fell through the water. With the huge success of the Porsche Cayenne, the plan for an SUV is shaking. It wasn’t until 2011 that another Kubang came in the form of a concept car. Maserati presented the Kubang concept car in Frankfurt that year, a true SUV that built on the concepts introduced in the GT Wagon.
Now three years later, Maserati will unveil the Levante next week. The public debut will follow at the Geneva Motor Show in March, but to make the wait a little more pleasant, Maserati is now already coming with a teaser. Not that there’s much to see in the photo, other than the LED daytime running lights and a 2014 Alfieri-style grille with bars set far apart.
The Levante should mainly compete with the Porsche Cayenne. Not only the format matches, but also the range of engines. Like Porsche, Maserati will supply the SUV with diesel and petrol engines. The 3.0 liter V6 diesel engine that we know from the Ghibli and Quattroporte forms the basis, the top model gets a blown V8 with 580 hp. Exactly 10 hp more than the Cayenne Turbo S. The starting price is estimated at about 90,000 euros. Guess which car starts around that course…
In two weeks we will know what the production version looks like. Enter the beautiful world of Maserati.
Yakymour 