Alexandre
While Maserati has recently been generating enthusiasm with exclusive sports models, such as the the GT2 Stradale or the MCXtrema, whose deliveries to customers have begun for the latter, the Trident brand continues to sink into a period of doubt and uncertainty. At the same time, Maserati announced that sales would be halved by 2024, that revenues would also be halved, and that the company would be able to continue its growth. a deficit of around -260 million euros for the same year.
In the face of long-standing difficulties, Yet Maserati distinguished itself in 2024 by an almost deafening silence. Several changes at various levels of the brand's management only fuelled the confusion, until Maserati was completely obliterated during the Stellantis Investor Day in June 2024. In the end, the most significant event was the announcement, in early October 2024, of the Maserati appoints new CEO. But, almost six months later, no concrete communication has followed. All we know is that this new leader has been holding a series of internal meetings to plan projects for 2025.
At a recent Stellantis 2024 results conference call, CFO Doug Ostermann confirmed that a 1.5 billion euro investment in Maserati had been written off. Financial documents reveal that this will result in "the cancellation of certain projects prior to their launch", and, although details of these projects have not been provided, they are expected to include the electric MC20 Folgore. According to Autocar, Ostermann believes the conglomerate needs to re-examine the timing of future Maserati product introductions. "We need to recognize the dynamics of this sector, particularly in the Chinese market, as well as our expectations of how quickly this luxury market will transition to electrification," he stressed."
Among the deleted projects, it is therefore highly likely that the MC20 Folgore, the long-awaited electric version of the sports coupé, will never see the light of day, confirming the information from project suspended 2 months ago. Other electrified projects in the Maserati range could also fall by the wayside, leaving the future of the Folgore range in doubt. And then, in our opinion, blaming China again is too easy an excuse (read Maserati in China: the story of an Italian brand that went from euphoria to tears).
This situation is becoming untenable for all stakeholders: Maserati employees, customers, shareholders and even dealers, who face a total lack of visibility. The fact that the only official statement comes from the CFO of Stellantis, who has come to announce the cut in investments, is seen as a general lack of respect. It is simply no longer possible to remain so silent: such a prestigious manufacturer deserves a clear and reassuring statement of direction.
We dare to hope that March 2025 will finally see Maserati make an official statement, with credible and ambitious announcements about its future. Let's hope the brand doesn't wait for yet another reorganization or the agreement of a new CEO from Stellantis (currently being recruited) to shape its future. Time is running out, and more than ever, silence is no longer an option.
I've been saying it for a while now, and the more time goes by, the closer my words come to reality. Maserati will eventually be sold. Before the merger (under FCA, i.e. Elkann), there was already talk of selling this brand along with Alfa Romeo (another brand that could be sold!). Tavares thought he could manage all these brands and refused to sell them. All he did was put off the deadline.
Investment close to nil and an empty calendar of new releases. Frankly, one wonders if they're not letting this brand die on purpose. Elkann is going to do what he wanted to do a few years ago. It's going to be sold. He doesn't give a damn about Maserati, he's already got Ferrari, which earns him billions already. What's he going to bother investing and spending to save a dying brand?
In fact, everyone was delighted to see that during Stellantis' latest announcement plan in Italy, all Maserati production was to be grouped together in a single plant in Modena. Am I the only one to have noticed that this was a way of preparing for the sale and simplifying the process? Well, think again. If Maserati is for sale, you have to sell a factory along with it. So the Modena plant, where all production is grouped together. Easier to manage for a future buyer than having to manage models produced in other factories that don't belong to him and where he would have to pay fees to the Stellantis group.
Didn't anyone wonder why Maserati wouldn't have the STLA Large? And why should Maserati extend the Giorgio as far as possible, even if it means making it a duplicate of the Large, which offers just as much, if not more? Once again, in my opinion, the reason is simple. To avoid the future buyer having to pay Stellantis royalties for the use of an STLA platform. The Giorgio, which will no longer be used by any other Stallantis models, could be resold with Maserati, and the next owner of the brand would have full intellectual and industrial property rights, and would thus be independent of Stellantis.
Let's wait and see. But for me, Maserati's future will be shaped without Stellantis. Good or bad news? Difficult to know at the moment...
In short, when you look closely, it's not just Maserati that's lacking in flagship models, but the whole of Stellantis: since 2021, almost everything that's been presented has been a photocopy of a PSA model... For 4 years now, we've seen no ambition, no real investment, no model where we thought "Wow!
In the article, mention was made of a lack of respect towards dealers, but this is nothing new, it's Carlos Tavares' DNA, and it goes further, it also concerns customers, given a certain number of organizational instructions that make dealerships completely inhuman (when you've known them before the passage of this saboteur).
When it comes to an electric Maserati, that's going to interest a few rich greenies, but for the time being, we need clear-headed people in charge, and long live combustion engines, which they know how to make, so why take the plunge?