Maserati Levante will join luxury SUV wars 2017

Maserati is set to join the SUV fraternity in 2017 with is Levante. And although information on the Levante is shared relatively freely, the Italian carmaker is doing all it can to hide the vehicle’s bodywork. However, the internet sees and hears all…

Levante will share similar cues with Kubang

A Levante test mule has been spotted, even though it was heavily camouflaged. Judging from the images, Maserati opted against using a Jeep Grand Cherokee platform for its SUV and instead decided to use one of its own. This, then, is also the reason why the Maserati Levante will only reach production later this year.

The platform used for the Levante is a modified version of the one found in the Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans and this platform can be used for both rear and all-wheel drive specification. The Levante is wider than the Ghibli, but is shorter than its sedan sibling.

The only clear indication of what styling the Maserati Levante might undertake can be drawn from the 2011 Maserati Kubang concept model. The Levante will not be an exact copy of the Kubang, because over the course of the last five years Maserati has changed and evolved its design language. The drawing in the image will give somewhat of an idea to what Maserati is working towards.

Maserati plans to build (and sell) between 10 000 and 15 000 Levantes per year. The SUV will be produced at the Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy – a plant owned by Maserati’s parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. This facility has the capacity to build 300 000 vehicles per year.

For interest’s sake: according to Motor Authority, “the Levante name comes from Via Emilia Levante in Bologna, Italy, where the Maserati brothers more than a century ago first dreamed of the company that today bears their name.”

The Maserati Levante is set to debut at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show in March.