Has Diesel Saved Maserati, or Will Electric Kill It?

This page is translated from the original post "Le diesel a sauvé Maserati, l’électrique va la tuer ?" in French.

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Maserati GranCabrio Folgore

Maserati made the difficult decision to suspend the production of its electric models in December 2024 due to a lack of orders.

The commercial history of Maserati has always been very complicated. The Fiat group, then Stellantis, is committed to keeping this prestigious brand alive, which weighs heavily in the accounts. Never has the Modena (Italy) manufacturer truly found its place between Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and many other prestigious badges.

This is a challenge since Lamborghini, under Audi’s influence, has managed to reinvent itself completely over the past 20 years, proving that there is no inevitable fate. Maserati chose Italian elegance, the Dolce Vita, but its customer base is very limited. The difficulty for the Agnelli-Elkan family, owners of Ferrari and co-owners of Stellantis, lies in the industrial entanglement of all the brands. Ferrari finds financial relevance by producing Maserati’s internal combustion engines, Fiat provides its factories. But the house of cards is fragile.

The brand’s rescue appeared in the early 2010s with the introduction of… diesel. A sacrilege for some, a duplication of the strategy that had worked for Porsche some time earlier. And it worked, sales rebounded. But who were the customers? Business executives leasing their company cars through long-term rentals before returning and moving away. Then came the global Dieselgate scandal that killed this technology.

Is Maserati backed against the wall?

The transition to electric proves more complex than expected for Maserati. The Italian brand, which committed to an ambitious electrification strategy with its “Folgore” program, faces major challenges. In response to declining demand, Stellantis, Maserati’s parent company, announced the temporary suspension of electric model production at the Mirafiori plant near Turin. This halt will affect notably the Fiat 500 Electric as well as the Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio electric models, from December 2 to 17, 2024.

The reasons given for this decision are multiple. Regarding Maserati, the market is not yet ready to switch to luxury electric cars. Added to this is a general decline in demand for luxury vehicles in key markets such as China and the United States, where Maserati historically made significant volumes.

Additionally, Maserati has decided to delay the development of the electric version of the Quattroporte, initially scheduled for 2024. This decision raises concerns about the brand’s ability to keep up its transition pace to electric vehicles. Uncertainty about demand and the high costs associated with producing high-end electric vehicles are major challenges for the manufacturer. In France, there’s no question with an ecological penalty of 60,000 euros: it will be electric or nothing. Life or death.

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