Evo 249 - Richard Porter

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
I'm not a fan of Richard Porter anyway & never have been. His views in his column differ from mine immensely and we are poles apart on many things.

What a ridiculous statement to suggest or question would we miss Maserati....of course we bl00dy would...idiot! Surely no petrolhead with any petrol running through their veins would say otherwise.

Would he miss his right leg if it wasn't there tomorrow?
 

Contigo

Sponsor
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18,376
The people who buy BMW, Audi, Merc, Porshce will certainly not give a **** if Maserati cease to exist as they think very narrow mindedly. Those of us who love the brand, who think differently, like the Esoteric and quirky trident would be properly gutted. A sad day if it ever came about and I'd probably shed a tear or two for the Maserati family.
 

dickygrace

www.richardgracecars.co.uk
Messages
7,309
They’re selling more cars than they ever have done. There are more people aware of the marque than there have been in the last 20-30 years. He’s just a journo who’s farming out click bait like most of the online press nowadays. Maserati isn’t going anywhere.
 

bigbob

Member
Messages
8,952
They’re selling more cars than they ever have done. There are more people aware of the marque than there have been in the last 20-30 years. He’s just a journo who’s farming out click bait like most of the online press nowadays. Maserati isn’t going anywhere.

Your last sentence can be read both ways Dicky!

It's interesting that a lot of the people on here love the older cars but slag off the modern ones and won't buy them so in that context Maserati disappearing is what they are supporting. On the other hand Maserati is selling loads more cars than in the past just as Porsche is but both with a different mix to suit changing customer demands. The difference versus Porsche is that nothing Maserati makes today is exceptional or even very good......so nothing has changed really!

On a serious level, FCA is just badge engineering a load of common developed cars to juggle sales to try and build up to two brands and when the new Alfa Coupe is released soon it will look more and more like Alfa has the whip hand.

PS Remember that when VW killed the Portuguese built Scirocco they replaced it with the T-Roc. The world has changed and the sort of cars that Maserati made of old are now no longer desirable to the extent that they were.
 

MrMickS

Member
Messages
3,951
Y
On a serious level, FCA is just badge engineering a load of common developed cars to juggle sales to try and build up to two brands and when the new Alfa Coupe is released soon it will look more and more like Alfa has the whip hand.

PS Remember that when VW killed the Portuguese built Scirocco they replaced it with the T-Roc. The world has changed and the sort of cars that Maserati made of old are now no longer desirable to the extent that they were.

Alfa is always going to sell more cars than Maserati as they are priced cheaper, even for the QVs Giulia and Stelvio. They need more of a buzz with the general public to sell them than Maserati do because they are aiming to be a volume brand to challenge BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar (I never thought I'd say that) etc. This isn't the market for Maserati and they don't need to push as hard to meet the numbers they are looking to sell. The brand, for the moment, sells itself.

Maserati know that they need a signature sports car to keep the brand alive. The recent revision of the GT to prolong sales for another year is witness to that, so I don't see them just quietly dropping out of that market. You're right though, its not going to be the bulk of the sales. I'm expecting the GT replacement to be announced on 1st June, along with the Alfa 6C. They will share some common components and will both be built in Modena. The Alfa car will get more shouting about it and will be more hardcore than the Maserati, which will be pitched as a luxury sports car.

In the meantime Alfa will sneak out a larger SUV and the Giulia coupe, and Maserati will have a baby Levante based on the Stelvio platform. Unfortunately those SUVs are selling.

The only hope really is that we start to see some drive train development with the V8 in the Maserati GT replacement as well as a V6 based mild hybrid with an electric motor on the front axle. I'd love to see V8 + electric too but I can't see them doing that to start with at least.

Disclaimer: We are in the market for an SUV come the winter, got stuck in on more than one occasion last winter. A Stelvio sized Maserati would be very tempting.
 

bigbob

Member
Messages
8,952
Disclaimer: We are in the market for an SUV come the winter, got stuck in on more than one occasion last winter. A Stelvio sized Maserati would be very tempting.

Word of warning, we had a loaner F Pace during the snow and it was scary as it was on P Zeros - could not stop the thing! It's all about tyres not the number of driven wheels when it comes to snow - my GranTurismo on winters was much better than the F Pace on summers.
 

Jnismith

Member
Messages
284
Word of warning, we had a loaner F Pace during the snow and it was scary as it was on P Zeros - could not stop the thing! It's all about tyres not the number of driven wheels when it comes to snow - my GranTurismo on winters was much better than the F Pace on summers.

Agreed, I went on a BMW demo day at the snow centre in Hemel. Took my 335 XD on the snow and slithered all over the place and then tried at RWD car with winters, much much better. Bought winter tyres on the spot and for the next three years we had no snow.
 

Corranga

Member
Messages
1,219
To expand a bit, in the original headline, Porter states that we need the car makers of Italy, then questions if we do, using Maserati as an example.
Interesting that he doesn't use Pagani, or Lamborghini, all of whom sell less than Maserati.

Also, is he trying to suggest we also don't need Alfa and Fiat?


This sums it up nicely.
 

Wayne1

Junior Member
Messages
41
Your last sentence can be read both ways Dicky!

It's interesting that a lot of the people on here love the older cars but slag off the modern ones and won't buy them so in that context Maserati disappearing is what they are supporting. On the other hand Maserati is selling loads more cars than in the past just as Porsche is but both with a different mix to suit changing customer demands. The difference versus Porsche is that nothing Maserati makes today is exceptional or even very good......so nothing has changed really!

On a serious level, FCA is just badge engineering a load of common developed cars to juggle sales to try and build up to two brands and when the new Alfa Coupe is released soon it will look more and more like Alfa has the whip hand.

PS Remember that when VW killed the Portuguese built Scirocco they replaced it with the T-Roc. The world has changed and the sort of cars that Maserati made of old are now no longer desirable to the extent that they were.


i'm afraid I wholeheartedly disagree with the comment " Nothing Maserati make is exceptional or even very good". Of course everything is subjective. But IMHO the Ghibli V6 petrol i have is every bit as good, in some areas better than any of the German marques I have owned. Trust me I have had them all. In fact it is now the second Ghibli (new type) I have owned . I also had a Levante on loan for a while and compared to a few friends who won similar vehicles but different marques, every one of them agreed they would seriously consider the Levante when they replace their current Chelsea tractor. The older Maserati's are gorgeous, exotic & unique, the new models are competing well in every area with the others... but they do one thing the Germans can never do... Maserati continue to be unique, attractive and not massively mass marketed vehicles, but as I understand it - they equally are not aiming to be. but that is just my opinion.
 

bigbob

Member
Messages
8,952
i'm afraid I wholeheartedly disagree with the comment " Nothing Maserati make is exceptional or even very good". Of course everything is subjective. But IMHO the Ghibli V6 petrol i have is every bit as good, in some areas better than any of the German marques I have owned. Trust me I have had them all. In fact it is now the second Ghibli (new type) I have owned . I also had a Levante on loan for a while and compared to a few friends who won similar vehicles but different marques, every one of them agreed they would seriously consider the Levante when they replace their current Chelsea tractor. The older Maserati's are gorgeous, exotic & unique, the new models are competing well in every area with the others... but they do one thing the Germans can never do... Maserati continue to be unique, attractive and not massively mass marketed vehicles, but as I understand it - they equally are not aiming to be. but that is just my opinion.

I was hoping someone would bite. Most of us on here have owned a selection of cars and are drawn to Maserati for reasons that many other people cannot understand. There are lots of niggles in the current cars which are less prevalent in most other cars in the £50-80k range but we still like our Maseratis. I had a Levante for a week when my car was in for a service last year. Ditto driven loads of Ghiblis and QPVIs in previous years. I like them but most people who express an interest and pay compliments find something to put them off before they part with this sort of cash on anything out of the ordinary and Maserati UK sales volumes support this.
 

agooner

Junior Member
Messages
103
Can I throw my 10p worth in. I buy Stone Island jumpers because they are not Armani, Polo, Gant or Boss, etc. I bought a Lexus because it isn't Land Rover, Range Rover, X5, or MB. And hopefully I will buy a 4200 or GS because it',s not Porsche, MB, BMW or Ferrari, etc.

Long may we have the diversity to choose.
 

Contigo

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18,376
Can I throw my 10p worth in. I buy Stone Island jumpers because they are not Armani, Polo, Gant or Boss, etc. I bought a Lexus because it isn't Land Rover, Range Rover, X5, or MB. And hopefully I will buy a 4200 or GS because it',s not Porsche, MB, BMW or Ferrari, etc.

Long may we have the diversity to choose.

Football Hooligan! Soccer casuals! :D
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,593
Let’s just enjoy our pointless, irrelevant and technically retarded marque happy in the knowledge that we are different and don’t subscribe to the German elitism.
 

Akeme

New Member
Messages
9
Porter is just another in the line of brainwashed British motoring journalists who have lambasted Italian cars for the last 30 years. It's the same old rhetoric over and over again, if your push them far enough they will even drag up "ape like driving positions" and "tinworm" and it belies a total lack of spirituality when it comes to cars or objects full stop.

The bitter resentment lies within a publishing sector awash with people whos most employable skillset is being able to memorise car statistics and that spend to much time obsessing over cars, instead of actually relating the maelstrom of life to the emotional experience driving can give you.