Maserati targets company car market

Published 13 February 2014

One of the most evocative names in automotive history is seeking a share of the UK company car market with its latest model.

The new Maserati Ghibli is now on sale and is offered with the company's first diesel engine, a 3.0-litre V6 producing 275bhp.

The Ghibli, with prices starting at just under £50,000, is targeting drivers in cars such as the BMW 535d and 6 Series Gran Coupé, the Audi A7 Sportback and the Mercedes-Benz CLS.

The company's corporate sales manager Graeme Jenkins told Fleet News that it expects to sell 1,000 Ghibli models in the UK in 2014, and around half will be company cars.

It has arrangements in place with Fiat Group Automobiles's leasing division in the UK as well as LeasePlan, and expects other contract hire companies to quote on the Ghibli soon.

Jenkins said the company's priority was to preserve residual values bymaintaining the exclusivity of the brand, as well as deliver competitive running costs. The company had a target of 3,000 sales a year in the UK in 2016 by which time it would also have launched the Levante SUV.

The diesel engine is a more powerful version of the unit used in the Chrysler 300C and Jeep Grand Cherokee, and in Maserati models (currently the Ghibli and Quattroporte) it is specified with actuators in the exhaust system to deliver a sound more in keeping with the brand's exotic heritage.

Maserati's dealer network will also expand to accommodate its sales aspirations, with new sites as stand-alone Maserati centres rather than being shared with sister brand Ferrari.