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MASERATI Australia says it will at least double its annual sales by 2020, despite the local market declining this year, while a mid-size SUV could take its point of entry to a new low, with both goals recently foreshadowed in parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobile’s five-year plan.

Speaking to journalists last week at the Levante launch in Albury, NSW, Maserati Australia chief operating officer Glen Sealey was upbeat about the brand’s performance in a softening market, with its year-to-date sales down 10.2 per cent, to 566 units.

“For Maserati, the segments are down close to 20 per cent year to date, with most of that decline occurring July to now,” he said.

“We are in a declining market, (but) Maserati has faired much better; we’re certainly not down 20 per cent, (instead) our share has actually increased.”

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The Levante large SUV remains the best-selling model in Maserati Australia’s line-up, but its 307 sales to the end of October represent a 17.9 per cent dip, while the next-best Ghibli large sedan has tallied 170 sales (-4.0%) during the same period.

Smaller volumes have been contributed by the improving GranTurismo and GranCabrio sportscars (55 units, +12.2%), and Quattroporte upper-large sedan (34, +13.3%).

When asked if Maserati Australia would be able to follow FCA’s five-year plan and double its annual sales by 2020, Mr Sealey suggested that the declining market could start to correct itself as soon as the middle of next year.

“I can remember when Maserati was selling 130, 140 cars a year and I’m standing up saying, ‘in five years’ time, we will deliver significant growth,’ and in five years’ time, we built the volume by sixfold,” he said. “It was a massive and phenomenal growth in the Australian market, for Maserati.

“We need to take a breather over this year and next year, and we’ll consolidate our business, and this means we will move with the market, but then the product offensive will come through.

“If the factory is going to deliver and they’re going to double their volume, we, in turn, will double our volume, as well.

Double up: Maserati Australia currently has one SUV in its line-up, the Levante, but it will soon be joined by a mid-sized model that will significantly contribute to its sales growth.

“Depending on the segment size and depending on the attitude of the market, generally speaking, we go a little bit better than the forecast overall.”

Maserati Australia’s current record of 740 annual sales was set last year, meaning it is hoping to sell about 1500 vehicles in 2020. As such, an increase in volume is expected to start in the second half of next year.

The mid-size SUV will be key to Maserati Australia’s projected sales resurgence, extending its segment coverage by 26 per cent, to 68 per cent, although Mr Sealey indicated that the critical model was not set to arrive “in the medium term”.

“The mid-size SUV is certainly on the plan,” he said. “What we don’t know today, though, is quite a number of things.

“We may not choose to take the base model of that, we may only take the high-end versions of that car, so do we keep that level up?

Ghibli S

“If I think of Porsche Macan, that’s certainly the case in a number of right-hand-drive countries. South Africa is a good example where Cayenne starts at just over a million rand ($A96,000) and the Macan starts much higher than that, as they only taking a higher spec of the car.

“The other thing that’s crossing our mind is currency. As we sit today, Australia has this year seen lows not seen in nine year’s time, and certainly that has the potential to continue.”

Given that the Levante now starts from $125,000 before on-road costs, the mid-size SUV could still bring Maserati Australia’s point of entry to below $100,000, even without a base variant, with Mr Sealey suggesting that “you can never say never in the automotive market”.

The five-year plan will see the eagerly anticipated Alfieri replace the GranTurismo and GranCabrio in coupe and convertible forms respectively, while new-generation versions of the Levante, Ghibli and Quattroporte have also been confirmed.

Among the variants of these new models will be eight plug-in hybrids and four battery-electric vehicles. Additionally, Ferrari will still provide Maserati with petrol internal-combustion engines, although diesel units are set to be discontinued.

By Justin Hilliard

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