Off-road vehicle: Maserati plans new luxury toys for the rich

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Maserati plans new luxury toys for the rich

Off-road vehicle: Maserati plans new luxury toys for the rich-vehicle

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The Kubang study is Maserati’s second attempt to bring an off-road vehicle onto the market.

Source: dapd / DAPD

Off-road vehicle: Maserati plans new luxury toys for the rich-off-road

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A study under this name was shown for the first time in 2003 at the Detroit Motor Show. The large radiator grille with the brand emblem sets the style.

Source: Maserati

Off-road vehicle: Maserati plans new luxury toys for the rich-vehicle

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The rear of the car looks less spectacular than the front.

Source: Maserati

Off-road vehicle: Maserati plans new luxury toys for the rich-off-road

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The Kubang would compete with the Porsche Cayenne and the BMW X6.

Source: Maserati

The plans for an SUV are not new, but now the chances are good that the IAA Kubang study will become a reality. But the car is not built for off-road use.

D.he name of this Maserati already describes his task: Kubang is a wind of the Indian Ocean. One day it is expected to shake up the luxury off-road vehicle market at the speed of a storm. At least that’s how the Maserati imagines it.

The Italian sports car specialist is showing the study of an SUV for the second time at the IAA (until September 25). But unlike in 2003 at the Detroit Motor Show, when the plans for a four-wheel drive SUV were quickly abandoned, the Kubang is now actually being built. However, it is not yet clear when. It could be quick or it could take two more years, says Maserati spokesman Thomas Kern.

There is no longer any doubt about which tasks the car should perform and how it will be positioned. According to Maserati executives, they would "Most SUVs do not offer the exciting driving pleasure and luxurious ambience that is standard today in sports cars and luxury limousines in the upper class".

That may be true, but they do "most SUVs" are out of the question as competitors. Maserati means none other than Porsche, BMW and possibly Mercedes. Whether the Kubang can drive more comfortably and luxuriously than a Porsche Cayenne or a BMW X6 is difficult to imagine.

The technology of the car will come in part from the sister brand Jeep from the Grand Cherokee, for example the substructure of the car and the four-wheel drive. One of Maserati‘s in-house developments is to be an eight-speed gearbox in the Kubang. The engines are also said to come from Maserati, but are built by Ferrari in Maranello. This applies to gasoline engines, because even at Maserati there is already open talk about the fact that diesel engines should also be available.

"These engines are now generally accepted", says spokesman Kern. The diesel engines would only be offered in Europe. Maserati’s strongest markets are the USA and China. Germany ranks fifth after Italy and Great Britain.

The most striking thing about the study is above all the design of the front with an opulent grill with Maserati trident. The rear, on the other hand, looks more confusing and is reminiscent of the Lexus SUV.

Before the decision about the realization of the first Maserati SUV is made, one thing is certain: the Kubang would come onto the market as a purely road vehicle, i.e. without the technologies that characterize off-road vehicles. And it would probably cost around six figures.

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