Maserati Alfieri confirmed for 2020

As we reported yesterday, production of the aged Maserati GranTurismo coupe and GranCabrio convertible will finally cease by the end of this year.

Now Maserati has confirmed their replacements – led by a new flagship super coupe previewed by the stunning Alfieri concept way back in 2014 -- will enter production by mid-2020.

Our sources say that makes the all-new Alfieri, which will be available with both full-electric and plug-in hybridised turbo V6 powertrains (although only the latter is likely to be offered in Australia, from the third quarter of 2021), likely to make its world debut as soon as next year's Geneva motor show in 12 months.

“The first pre-series production cars of a totally new model, a characteristically Maserati sports car, will roll off these lines starting in the first half of next year,” said Maserati overnight after meeting with union and government representatives at its Via Ciro Menotti plant in Modena.

In an apparent pre-emptive strike before unions leaked the company’s plans, as is customary in Italy, Maserati said its historic Modena plant “will be dedicated to the manufacturing of special high performance, high technology sports cars, in line with the tradition and values of the Brand, which has been present in Modena since 1939.

“The plan is to upgrade and renew the current production lines starting this Autumn.”

The official confirmation kyboshes various reports suggesting the Alfieri would be released as early as 2016 or as late as 2022, and that it would be launched in addition to replacements for the GranTurismo and GranCabrio.

Now confirmed to effectively replace the four-seat, naturally-aspirated 4.7-litre V8-powered GranTurismo and GranCabrio (first revealed in 2007 and 2010 respectively), the two-seat Alfieri coupe and convertible will be produced on a dedicated new electric vehicle platform.

Based around an all-aluminium spaceframe, the Alfieri coupe is claimed to offer 0-100km/h acceleration in the two-second range, 800V battery tech, active aerodynamics and a three-motor all-wheel drive system with full active torque vectoring, making it one of the quickest cars on the road.

While the two-door Alfieri performance flagships will be produced at the Via Ciro Menotti plant in Modena, where the Alfa Romeo 4C has been built since 2013, there is no news on the mid-size Maserati SUV to be built alongside the Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Giulia on the same Giorgio platform at FCA’s Cassino plant situated between Rome and Naples.

Also listed in Maserati’s five-year model plan ending in 2022 is a replacement for the Quattroporte sedan, which is built alongside the smaller Ghibli in Grugliasco, Turin, and the second-generation Levante large SUV, which is produced in Mirafiori, Turin.