Will Maserati disappear?

Hello! There will be no podcast this week. Logistic challenges and health issues forbade me from having it on time. 

Though it's not the same, we've provided the AI-generated audio version. 

On another note, what are your thoughts on Toyota refusing to honor the warranty on two GR Corollas that caught fire?

More and more people judge the Japanese company, especially after a rocky 2023. Let's see how it evolves.

Key Takeaways

Don’t have much time? Here’s the summary of what we’re talking about:

• Maserati's future hangs in the balance due to poor sales and, wait for it, poor marketing

• The brand has always lagged behind other Italian notables, such as Ferrari and Lamborghini

• Stellantis might cut the cord soon, and it could be the best solution for Maserati.
  

NEWSBITES

Every week, we scour the web for the most essential news. Here’s what you need to know this week:

• Thieves aren't stealing EVs. So, point to them?

• The UK's surprising benefit of imposing fines on large vehicles 

• Hackers can control Kias with only their license plate as information

• A man allegedly snuck under women's cars to see their feet. Allegedly. 

🚗 Do you want to reach more than 2,300 weekly readers who love everything about cars? Sponsor your product here!

Send us an email if you’re interested. You can reach us by replying to this email.

LONG READ

Maserati will die again, but why does this keep happening?

Once again, the "iconic" Italian brand is struggling. So, a question arises: Did it ever have a chance to survive? Here's its complex history.

This is a Citroën SM.

It's one of the most iconic cars in the world and one of my favorites.

It caused so much of a revolution that, when it came out, it won Motor Trend's Car Of The Year award in 1972, making it the first foreign car to win the "Overall Car Of The Year" category. 

In a previous in-depth issue, we covered the "Car of the Year" awards. If you want to learn more about this legendary (and controversial) award, here's the link. 

But what does the Citroën SM have to do with Maserati?

A lot, actually. 

There was a very Italian and very sporty heartbeat underneath the crazy and beautiful design, and that engine was a Maserati powerplant. 

In 1968, the French manufacturer purchased the struggling Italian brand in an effort to inject some of the purebred DNA into its visionary designs.

Two years later, the mix-and-match produced one of history's most iconic and essential cars. 

Granted, it almost bankrupted Citroen, but that's another story. You can read more about it here.  

Maserati had proved once again that it could create high-performance engines and cars, but the relationship lasted a second.

By 1975, Citroën struggled due to the oil crisis and was part of the PSA merger, which forced Citroën to take extreme financial measures.

A luxury Italian brand was not among their priorities. 

However, the Italian Government wanted to save the brand. After all, it had potential. 

So, Italy partnered with Alessandro De Tomaso. Maserati's history would continue to be troublesome. BTW, his life is fascinating, and you can learn more here. 

Still, this fraction of time, this fleeting moment in automotive history when the Citroen SM was a good car that wowed audiences, is essential in understanding the good and bad of Maserati. 

Maserati's origins

Maserati is one of the oldest automotive companies in the world, having been founded in 1914.

(By the way, Opel is the oldest, having been founded in 1850.)

Since its conception, the company has seen a crazy evolution. 

As with many Italian automakers, Maserati's origins revolve around racing.

Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore, and Ernesto Maserati all worked with cars in one way or another, mostly building Grand Prix for other companies. 

By 1926, when one of their clients stopped racing, the brothers decided to create their own race cars, and to much success.

That same year, a Maserati race car won the 1926 Targa Florio, and from there, the brothers went all out, creating 4, 6, 8, and 16-cylinder engines. 

Read more about the crazy 16-cylinder engine here.

While the efforts and victories kept piling on, keeping the brand alive was a challenge. 

Alfieri Maserati passed away from complications after an injury while racing, and the rest of the brothers suddenly found themselves losing momentum.

Soon, they were unable to keep the business going. 

By 1937, the Maserati brothers sold their shares to another family who established operations in Modena, where the headquarters remain. 

The brothers remained linked to the company, as did the racing success they had once accomplished. 

By 1940, Maserati was challenging major German brands such as Auto Union and Mercedes and even won the Indianapolis 500.

No other Italian manufacturer has been able to replicate such success. 

During the 1950s, Maserati established itself as a racing powerhouse, especially thanks to Juan Manuel Fangio's skilled driving.

However, by the end of the decade, Maserati realized one thing: Racing cars could be exciting and at the forefront of technology, but they were not profitable. 

So, the company turned its attention to road-going cars and released the 3500 GT, one of the most beautiful cars ever made. Thus, Maserati entered the market with a bang. 

The way the brand was supposed to be

The 3500 GT and the subsequent variants proved essential for the company. Leaving the world of racing was a gamble.

After all, that's where their clients were, but having proved that they could build cars, Maserati had a strong showing. 

Not only but it was also quickly defining its audience: people with money.

Maserati was creating elegant Grand Tourers and sportscars that people like the Shah of Persia were buying.

These products, luxury cars, and a select consumer meant that Maserati would never become a massive manufacturer.

Instead, it would rely on a niche market willing to pay big bucks for exclusive cars. 

The problem with such an equation is that sometimes it doesn't work and usually requires a steady flow of cash between sales. This coincided with European automakers' massive expansion in the 1960s.

They looked to gobble any company that would give them an advantage.  

This link narrates the story of how Citroen was expanding rapidly to acquire other brands and their technology.

For them, finding a good engine for the SM Citroen was essential, and that engine would come from Maserati. 

The powerplant paid off quite well (at first). The V8-inspired V6 engine produced 170 hp, which was more than enough to power the beautiful SM. 

While the Citroën is iconic, it was also troublesome. It was too complex and too expensive for it to make financial sense.

Plus, it didn't sell well, thanks partly to the Oil Crisis but also its hefty price tag. 

Then, there was the reliability. Imagine a 1970s hydraulic suspension system, and you can visualize its complexity. But that wasn't the big issue. 

Sure, the Citroën SM drove beautifully, but that V6 was extremely unreliable. 

People feared the engine, as it was prone to shattering its timing chains and a faulty oil pump. 

Read more about the SM’s development history here.

That same troublesome engine made its way to other Maserati cars, such as Khamsin and Merak, both of which earned a reputation for temperance and unreliability. 

But there was something about the brand. That quintessential sports essence that can't be replicated was very appealing.

So, after Citroën announced that it would sell off the brand, De Tomaso swept in, beginning a revolving door of ownership that would characterize the company for decades. 

Exchanging hands

The oil crisis shocked the automotive industry, especially that of high-performance cars.

Italian automakers saw their market contract by 70%, and Maserati struggled because it relied heavily on local customers. 

So, for Citroën, it was time to bid farewell, but the Italian Government wanted to save the 800 jobs there.

Negotiations followed, and by August 1975, Maserati had changed ownership and now belonged to the Italian Government and Alejandro De Tomaso. 

The same day the purchase happened, De Tomaso fired Alfieri Maserati, thus ending a part of history.

But here's the problem: what came out of this ownership? The Merak continued its somewhat steady sales, and the Kyalami entered the market, but to little success. 

The company got a little boost in sales from Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good," but it struggled. And that's where Chrysler comes into play the first time. 

Listen to the song here.

Man, the 70s were cool. They also were weird.

By 1984, Chrysler had purchased 5% of the company, and Lee Iacocca agreed to work together.

Maserati would design and sell a car for the American Market, the Chrysler TC Maserati, using Chrysler engines (why, nobody knows; it's not as if they were reliable), and it showed. 

In the early 80s, reacting to changing times, Maserati created the Biturbo, a front-wheel-drive car with a twin-turbo V6, the first of its kind. 

The car was aesthetically pleasing and relied on the appeal to sell huge numbers.

That's what the partnership wanted when producing the TC.

However, the end product, released in late 1988, was slow, unreliable, FWD, ugly, and expensive. Plus, it had a Mitsubishi engine instead of a Maserati V6.  

This was enough to spark ownership change. 

In 1989, De Tomaso bought out the Italian Government and became sole owner for a matter of weeks. In December of that year, FIAT became 49% owner of Maserati. 

Eventually, four years later, De Tomaso would sell his share to Fiat, and thus, another ownership ensued.

FIAT produced some cars that caused appeal but nothing that excited the consumer, as it had done in the past. The Quattroporte of the time wasn't appealing, and the powerplants were old and underpowered. 

By 1997, FIAT needed some help in adding passion to the brand, so it turned to a fascinating option: Ferrari.

FIAT owned Ferrari and sold  50% of its share to the legendary brand as a way of giving Ferrari a luxury brand. 

The late stages of FIAT's ownership

The 2000s were interesting times for Maserati.

Under Ferrari's guidance, the company managed to launch fascinating vehicles such as the 3200 GT, Granturismo and GranCabrio. These cars followed a simple equation: a naturally aspirated V8 and RWD. So, they were a hit. 

The brand even made a comeback in the US, which would eventually become one of its best markets. 

But, even then, Maserati's identity suffered. The company was owned by Ferrari, which was in turn owned by FIAT.

Here’s an interesting look back at that time.

Ferrari was a luxury brand in itself, FIAT had the luxury, upscale brand Alfa Romeo, and the Abarth which was the performance version. 

So, there were a lot of options. That's why FIAT merged the brands and then produced its first profit in 17 years. 

By the early 2010s, the  company struggled to gain a market.

It attempted to create luxury grand tourers to compete with BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and Jaguar. It also produced sport saloons to compete with Ferrari and wanted to wedge between these brands that were already established. 

However, things changed in 2014 when FIAT merged with Chrysler, and thus, Chrysler returned to the picture. 

The circle closes

In early 2024, Carlos Tavares, the company's CEO had said before that it wouldn't be afraid of shutting down Maserati or selling it off. 

In September 2024, Stellantis (the name for FCA, Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles) CEO said that marketing is to blame for Maserati's poor sales.

That's a harsh criticism coming from the company's leadership. 

"With Maserati, we have the right cars and we have the right technologies. We can offer thermal or 100% electric luxury sports cars. If sales are sluggish right now, it is a matter of marketing. We have also improved a lot on the quality front, but now we need to work on marketing. We lack prospects and leads, we need to reach potential customers and deliver the right message for the right positioning."

The problem isn't marketing. It's anything but marketing.

Sure, the CEO says that it has everything to work with, but that's not really the case. 

What they have is a brand that tries too hard to be many things at once. It came up with an SUV that's a watered-down version of the Alfa Romeo and Ferrari proposals.

The company also struggles to find more of an identity: is it a luxury brand, a sports brand, or something in between that allures the buyers that say: I don't want a BMW, a Mercedes, a Jaguar, or even a Porsche.

I want something else.

That buyer is hard to find. 

That's why, back then, the Citroën SM was important.

It showed how Maserati's essence could work.

It could inject its DNA into a fascinating product that stood outside the norm, and it hasn't been able to replicate it. 

The bet is electric. Maserati plans to make a name for itself with EVs, but if anything, that's even tougher to accomplish. 

I agree with this article. It’s a risky bet.

Maserati models aren’t only famous for their troubled history. Insuring them is a challenge, as our article below explains.

Read more to find the least and most difficult cars to insure in 2024.