Maserati Levante SUV won't be imported from Detroit after all

For years, we've been hearing that the upcoming Maserati Levante SUV -- which debuted as the Maserati Kubang -- would be built at Chrysler's Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit. The prospect of a high-dollar luxury crossover coming out of the gritty Motor City was intriguing, but the scheme made a certain sense -- the Levante is built on the same platform as the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Unfortunately, it's not gonna happen. Marchionne has decided to instead produce the Levante in at Fiat's Mirafiori, Italy, factory, which just so happens to be the automaker's oldest and largest.

According to Bloomberg, the change is part of a broader plan by Fiat to invest in its Mirafiori factory; the whole deal seems to hinge on ongoing labor negotiations. The fact that Jefferson North is already at capacity thanks to the success of the Grand Cherokee probably helped sway Fiat decision-makers as well.

And while it would have been interesting to see how a truly “imported from Detroit” Italian-badged luxury SUV would have sold to discriminating international heavy-hitters, we understand that Maserati can't take any chances if it ever wants to meet its ambitious global sales goal of 50,000 units by 2015.

By Graham Kozak