Maserati’s Gloomy future is worrying
Maserati is facing a number of challenges, from poor marketing and heavy discounts to a host of other issues. If the company wants to remain floatable, it will need to make up ground. Maserati, once a symbol for Italian luxury and performance in the automotive industry, now faces serious questions about its future. Does it shift gears quickly enough to remain in the race? LUXUO previously discussed Jaguar’s controversial rebranding efforts, and now it looks as if Maserati may not be far behind in risking its storied legacy with questionable moves.
Maserati GT2 Stradale. Image: Maserati.
Maserati, a legendary Italian carmaker, celebrates its 110th Anniversary of Founding in 1914 on
2024. This luxury automobile company faces difficulties over a century after its founding. Maserati sales were bleak when parent company Stellantis published its half-year report. The number of cars sold to consumers fell from 15,300 in June 2024 to only 6,500. Carlos Tavares claims that the alarming decline in sales was caused by ineffective marketing, not problems with products or price strategy. Carlos Tavares claims that ineffective marketing, not problems with the products or price strategy, caused the alarming decline in sales.
Read More: A Quick Appreciation Post On The Most Unique Maserati Models
Stellantis replaced Davide Grasso as CEO of the high-end Italian brand in October 2024 with Santo Ficili to stoke the fire. Ficili, the former Stellantis Italian Market Director, now oversees Alfa Romeo, the brand of carmaker. Grasso has been promoted to the newly created role of chief heritage officers at Stellantis. According to a statement, he is now “responsible for the curation of the history and patrimony of the 14 brands of Stellantis,” which includes collaborations with archives and museums.
When Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis, the mothership brand created by merging Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group, resigned in early December 2024, it caused a stir.
Maserati Grecale SUV. Image: Maserati.
Stellantis has 14 brands: Abarth, Alfa Romeo (including Alfa Romeo), Chrysler, Citroen and Dodge, Fiat, Jeep Lancia, Maserati and Opel Peugeot. The status and future for the Trident brand is at the heart of the controversy. In addition to having multiple leadership changes in recent weeks, Stellantis NV’s luxury brand Maserati is also dealing with declining sales and subpar marketing.
Carlos Tavares recently alluded to the legendary Italian brand’s bleak future by saying, “We’ll shut them down if they don’t make money.” We cannot afford to have unprofitable brands. That’s how easy it is.” Okay, so he was talking about all the companies that fall under the massive corporate umbrella, not specifically Maserati.
Maserati faces an uphill struggle, even though Stellantis said in a news release that all 14 firms are staying put and reaffirmed its 2021 promise to invest in all brands for ten years. To increase sales, it must continue to update and extend its product line over a period of several years. After the GranCabrio Folgore was revealed earlier this year, it will release in 2025. In 2028, a zero-emission Quattroporte will be released. A large electric SUV is expected to arrive in 2027. In December 2023, Maserati stopped producing its gasoline-powered Ghibli, Levante, and Quattroporte sedans to reduce costs and eliminate underperforming models.
Maserati GranCarbio. Image: Maserati.
According to data, Maserati’s sales in the third quarter 2023 will be 60 percent less than the total year. That is a drop of more than 58 per cent. Tavares blamed Maserati’s demise on aggressive dealer discounts and poor brand positioning. The current electrification in the automotive industry will make it difficult to navigate. Even though the brand could focus on cost-cutting and reducing its model range to increase profitability and luxury appeal, the challenge is to navigate this sea-change. As evidenced by BYD’s impressive global performance, China has emerged as the leading market for EV sales.
According to data released Monday, 9 December 2024, the rapidly expanding automaker again increased its market share in China. BYD increased its share of the world’s largest vehicle market from 12.5 to 17 percent according to industry figures. Additionally, BYD is on pace to surpass Ford and Honda, and its annual goal is to manufacture 4 million automobiles.
Maserati MC20 Cielo. Image: Maserati.
In the first nine-month period of 2023, Maserati will only sell about 20,600 cars. Stellantis, the most recent official statistics, show that this number has dropped to 8,600 in 2018. The future of the legendary Italian automaker is bleak due to this 58.3 per cent drop. “Maserati has a negative balance sheet.” He said that marketing was the reason. Maserati’s brand positioning and storytelling must improve. The brand is not just about sports cars; it’s about gran turismo, quality of life, dolce vita, and technology.”
There is far less demand in China for Maserati’s luxury goods. Maserati must juggle several balls to keep the show going, including expanding its lineup, developing more EV-focused cars, adjusting its marketing approach, and more.
The Trident in Trouble: Can Maserati Stage a Comeback?
Maserati’s decline can be traced to a confluence of factors, including ineffective marketing, misaligned brand positioning, and reliance on outdated models that failed to capture the market’s growing appetite for electrification. The company’s trajectory has been further complicated by the instability of its leadership, as frequent executive changes have made it difficult to develop a cohesive long-term strategy. Maserati must innovate, recalibrate its product offering and improve storytelling to survive in a world where BYD is dominating the EV market and Stellantis struggles with overarching issues. Without these shifts, the iconic Trident risks becoming a relic of the past in a rapidly evolving automotive landscape.
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