Aussies lining up for Maserati's first SUV

Well over 100 Australians are already in the queue to buy Maserati's first SUV, production of which was doubled last week in Italy following its world debut at the Geneva motor show in March.

However, increased supplies of the Levante, which we drove in Italy in April, won't fast-track its release in Australia, where there's still no sign of any petrol V6, V8 or plug-in hybrid versions.

“Interest in the Levante has exceeded our expectations, both in terms of numbers and speed at which the inquires started after the launch at the Geneva motor show," Glen Sealey, CEO of Maserati Australia, New Zealand and South Africa told motoring.com.au.

“Literally within hours of the covers coming off the Levante at Geneva we had our first local inquires and we are now well into three figures for people wishing the own a Levante as soon as possible and we have yet to start our marketing programs.”

Sealey said first customer examples of the Levante may arrive Down Under by the end of this year, but that local deliveries would officially commence – as planned -- early next year.

The timing remains unchanged by last week's addition of an extra 550 new workers to produce the Levante on a dedicated production line at Fiat's historic Mirafiori plant in Turin, where 1200 staff are now assembling the Levante in two shifts a day.

Late last month Maserati said more additional workers will be employed from the middle of the year to further boost production as the Levante is launched in more markets around the world, "following extensive training in the unique construction and personalisation techniques and technology employed to produce the Levante".

Dating back to 1939, Mirafiori -- which employs a total of 17,000 staff -- joins the Grugliasco factory, also in Turin, and the historic production line in Maserati's home city of Modena in producing Maseratis.

Sealey said the increased production would not lead to an earlier launch, but could reduce waiting lists for local Levante buyers.

“This lift in production will not mean an earlier arrival date for the Levante in Australia and New Zealand, but we would expect it to mean a more rapid ramp up in supply and for us to be able to meet demand more quickly once deliveries start,” said Sealey.

Australian Maserati distributor European Automotive Imports – a sister company to Neville Crichton's Ateco Automotive, which imports Foton, Ssangyong, Chery, LDV and RAM vehicles – will host the Australian debut of the Levante in Sydney on June 29, but local model details won't be revealed for several weeks.

“We will start showing the Maserati to clients in Australia and New Zealand within the next two months and when this happens we will confirm Australian pricing and specifications,” said Sealey.

As we've reported, Australian Levante pricing is expected to begin at about $150,000 for the sole diesel-powered version to be available here for the foreseeable future.

That would represent a considerable price premium over chief rivals like the Audi Q7, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE and Porsche Cayenne, but Sealey said the Levante Diesel will be well specified and sufficiently equipped to meet demand in Australia's lucrative large luxury SUV market.

“We will launch with the diesel variant and all versions will have high levels of equipment, trim and features. The diesel-powered variant will cover the majority of demand in the market sector."

Expected to become Maserati Australia's top-seller and charged with more than doubling the Italian car-maker's global volume to 75,000 sales by 2018, the Levante is now on sale in the UK priced from £54,335 OTR ($A106,685) for the 202kW/600Nm 3.0-litre VM Motori V6 diesel version we'll get.

While that makes its UK starting price £755 lower than that of the UK's Ghibli, which costs $143,900 in Australia, Luxury or Sport versions are priced at £60,285 OTR in the UK, where a top-shelf Luxury Pack Zegna Edition with Zegna Mulberry Silk trim costs £61,185 OTR.

Backflipping on its original plan, Maserati will not offer twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol models from launch and now says the same 316kW engine from the Ghibli will be limited to left-hand drive production.

Previously, it also promised to produce a plug-in hybrid Levante by 2018, but that's unlikely to eventuate in Australia in the absence of government incentives and a widespread recharging infrastructure.

And so far there's no business case whatsoever for a high-performance Levante powered by the Quattroporte's 390kW 3.8-litre biturbo V8, even though Maserati chief Harald Wester told us at Geneva he'd already driven one.

That won't stop Maserati opening a new dealership in Queensland this year to satisfy demand from Australian customers, in addition to the brand's retail outlets in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland and Christchurch.

Last year Maserati sold 519 cars in Australia – up almost 30 per cent on 2014 figures – including 345 Ghiblis.