CAR 20 Most Wanted of 2014: Maserati Levante

By the CAR editorial team

First Official Pictures

13 December 2013 09:00

If Maserati’s plot to sell 50,000 cars annually by 2016 is to succeed, the Trident’s super-SUV needs to fly out of showrooms fast enough to give salesmen whiplash.

Ambitious? Yes, but Maserati’s up-sleeve trick is getting the platform from sister brand Jeep and its much-improved Grand Cherokee. Sitting in the nose are twin-turbo petrol and diesel V6s (plus a range-topping 523bhp V8), the same Ferrari-honed powerplants from the Quattroporte.

The all-wheel drive system is Maserati’s own, sorted for dynamics rather than Jeep-alike mud-plugging. Purists might raise hell, but you can bet the Range Rover is already looking nervously over its shoulder.

Pictured, right, is the 2011 Kubang concept, first trevealed at the 2011 Shanghai motor show. The production Levante is likely to ape the look of this show car, adding some of the sharper creases and angular headlights of the new Quattroporte and Ghibli saloons.

By the CAR editorial team