Italy is very well known for its beautiful nature, gorgeous women and sexy cars! The latest offering from one such design oriented Italian automaker, Maserati, is its maginificent SUV – the ‘Levante’, that is under testing as of now, and the company plans to launch it by the year end. This is also the first SUV from Maserati’s stable to hit the production line, and is the on road version of the Kubang concept that Maserati had showcased earlier in 2011. The car is expected to hit the roads only by next year. And yes, it has been spotted testing at the Green Hell.
The Levante, in these spyshots, looks very different from the Kubang concept and derives its major design aspects from the Ghibli. The car shares its body with the Ghibli, with major tweaks done along the roofline and with larger wheel arches. The car is also expected to get a ‘Q4’ four-wheel-drive-system that is seen in the ongoing Quattroporte and Ghibli models. The company will modify this system with help of its sister company – Jeep, to make the car capable of off-roading.
Levante will get its power from the new 410 BHP twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre petrol V6 and a 530 BHP twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V8, along with a 271 BHP 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel that will be the main powerplant offered to Europe. The power transmission will be taken care of by an eight-speed automatic transmission. The company also plans to develop a plug-in hybrid version of this SUV.
Maserati plans to use the Quattroporte and Ghibli structure to keep it simple, and one can expect that Jeep and Chrysler will take care of the electronics department. The car’s underpinnings will be a development of those that are used on the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Along with this, the Levante may save huge weight by using aluminium for its body and suspension. In terms of interiors, the car will have almost every luxury that the Quattroporte offers. The company is yet to decide as to where it will be making this SUV.
With Maserati’s expertise in design and luxury, and the contribution of Jeep towards making this a true SUV in every sense; the company banks a lot on this model to sell in huge numbers, as the demand for premium SUVs are almost double than that of Sports cars.
We expect this car to do some wonders in the future market.
Source- Autocar UK
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