GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Maserati's first SUV

The first SUV in Maserati's 100-year history has been revealed ahead of its global debut at the Geneva motor show on March 1, as the Italian car-maker promised last September, when it was last snapped by spy shooters in testing.

Now confirmed for release in Europe later than expected in May ahead of first Australian deliveries by the end of this year, the Maserati Levante emerges faithful to the patent drawings uncovered in May.

No interior shots have yet been revealed and no technical details accompany these first four official exterior images released overnight in Europe.

However, Maserati's first entry into the booming global premium SUV sector appears remarkably well resolved, presenting a high-riding crossover wagon silhouette that draws links with the brand's existing Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans and GranTurismo and GranCabrio sports cars.

Unique features, for an SUV, include frameless door windows and heavily sloping front and rear glass, while trademark Maserati design cues include aggressively tapered headlights that intersect a large chromed grille with eight vertical bars and the Trident logo, Maserati's 'Saetta' badge on the trapezoidal C-pillar, three chromed inlets on the front quarters and two pairs of oval-shaped chromed exhaust outlets at the rear.

Differentiating the production Levante considerably from the Kubang SUV concepts seen as far back as 2003 and 2012 are SUV styling hallmarks like (body-coloured) wheel-arch extensions, lower front and rear 'skid plate' inserts, a rear roof/tailgate spoiler and a rear windscreen wiper.

Also evident are LED running lights, xenon headlights with washers, forglights, chromed door-handles and windowline surrounds, big cross-drilled brake discs with huge red callipers, and sizeable 21-inch multi-spoke alloy wheels with sticky P-Zero rubber measuring a beefy 295/35 at the rear.

As standard, Maserati says the Levante will come with 'Q4' intelligent all-wheel drive, "sophisticated electronic suspension with controlled damping and air springs, which can be set on several levels" and an eight-speed automatic transmission specially calibrated for the brand's new SUV.

As we've reported, the Levante will come with a range of Euro 6 emissions-compliant petrol and diesel engines, enabling it to compete directly with premium versions of top-selling large German luxury SUVs like BMW's X5.

The Levante's platform architecture was originally to have been shared with the Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the shift to the same chassis architecture as the Ghibli and Quattroporte delayed its market launch from last year.

The SUV will also borrow its V6 diesel and V6 and V8 petrol engines from the Maserati sedans, including a Ferrari-sourced 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 in both 260 and 335kW tunes – up from 243kW and 301kW in the sedans.

Either side of them should be a VM Motori 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 with similar outputs to the Ghibli and Quattroporte (202kW/600Nm), and a range-topping 430kW version of the twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 that powers the Quattroporte (390kW/650Nm), but is yet to appear inthe Ghibli.

Further afield, Maserati is expected to offer a plug-in hybrid version of the Levante in 2017, before the same powertrain finds its way into the Ghibli and Quattroporte in 2018.

While the Levante is a key plank of Maserati's plans to sell 75,000 vehicles per annum globally (and 1500 in Australia) by 2020, the PHEV powertrains are vital for it to meet strict new European emissions regulations due around the same time.

Maserati is also working on the production version of its two-seat Alfieri coupe – a direct rival for Porsche's top-selling 911 – which is expected on sale next year and will spawn a convertible version. A replacement for Maserati's range-topping GranTurismo coupe (but not its existing GranCabrio sibling) will follow.

The Levante is already in production at Maserati's Mirafiori plant at Turin in northern Italy -- the same city in which Fiat Chrysler Automobiles continues to use temporary lay-offs at its Grugliasco plant following slowing demand for the Ghibli and Quattroporte, especially in China and the US. Maserati sales were down 11 per cent last year.

According to Reuters, the Fiom union this week confirmed the next production stand-down will affect all 1900 workers at the plant between March 17 and April 4, following three weeks of temporary layoffs in January and February.