Maserati Grecale delayed – again

The world debut of the all-new Maserati Grecale will no longer take place in Milan on November 16 due to the global semi-conductor shortage.

Maserati announced overnight that the smaller sibling for the Levante – and the Italian car-maker’s first direct rival for mid-size sports/luxury SUVs like the Porsche Macan and BMW X4 – will now be launched in spring 2022.

That means the Maserati Grecale, which was first teased back in 2018 and originally due for global release in 2020, won’t be revealed until at least March next year and its Australian launch will likely slip to late 2022.

“The global premiere of Grecale, originally scheduled for November 16th of this year, has been postponed to spring 2022 in view of the problems that have caused interruptions in the supply chains for the key components necessary to complete the car’s production process,” said Maserati in a press release.

“In particular, due to the shortage of semi-conductors, the quantity of production would not allow us to respond properly to the expected global demand. In fact, the new Grecale features ground-breaking content, particularly in the connectivity and human-machine interface areas.”

Indeed, despite a higher circa-$100,000 starting price than its rivals, the Grecale is expected to become Maserati’s instant best-seller and, combined with the larger Levante, to account for 70 per cent of the Trident brand’s global sales by 2025.

“The Trident is synonymous with innovation, passion and unique style. Driven by these values, Maserati is still hard at work in spite of the component supply problems hitting the entire transportation industry, and is determined to guarantee the continuity of its business,” the company said.

“Maserati is a brand dedicated to growth, and this will never change. The Grecale energy is not stopping: stay tuned from November 16th onwards.”

No new date has been announced for the Grecale’s global premiere and no new details have been announced.

However, Maserati has long promised its all-new mid-size luxury SUV will bring Level 3 autonomous driving capability, a 50:50 front/rear weight balance and a class-leading power-to-weight ratio.

Similar in size to the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, with which it will share its Giorgio rear/all-wheel drive platform and its production facility in Cassino, Italy, the Maserati Grecale will be offered with the same 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol mild-hybrid powertrain as the Ghibli Hybrid.

But the most powerful Trofeo version will pack a detuned version of the 463kW/730Nm 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol ‘Nettuno’ V6 that powers the Maserati MC20 supercar, and an all-electric version is expected to be added to the range – eventually.