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Maserati,
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Europe's continuing financial woe is forcing automakers to get creative, and while
Fiat may be scaling back its volume vehicles, it's looking to ramp up production of the exclusive
Maserati brand. Following the debut of a new
Quattroporte sedan, Fiat wants to boost Maserati sales to 50,000 vehicles by 2015. Maserati may lose as much as €7 million ($9.05 million) this year, and Fiat is betting big on
Chrysler platforms and dealers to turn that around.
Currently regarded as a low-volume boutique carmaker, Maserati sold just 6,159 units last year, and 4,700 units through three quarters of this year. For 2013, Fiat boss
Sergio Marchionne is targeting 13,000 in sales of the redesigned Quattroporte alone. Fiat apparently wants the brand's low volume image to change, hoping to position it closer to
BMW and
Porsche in the market.
The recent unveiling of the new Quattroporte will be followed by more new vehicle launches, including a crossover utility called
Levante, and a long-promised sub-Quattroporte sedan, called
Ghibli. The latter will share certain components with the
Chrysler 300 sedan in an effort to optimize production costs. The Ghibli will be positioned to take on the
BMW 5 Series and
Mercedes-Benz E-Class. It's all in an effort to turn the profit tide for Maserati and its parent company Fiat amidst European economic turmoil.
Maserati looking to book 13,000 sales of new Quattroporte in 2013 originally appeared on
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Report: Maserati looking to book 13,000 sales of new Quattroporte in 2013
