By: Jason Woosey
With an expanding line-up and a new official importer, Maserati is hoping to make some waves in South Africa's premium car market.
European Automotive Imports (EAI) is a local subsidiary of Maserati's Australian importer, which hopes to transform the brand as it did Down Under with a high-end dealer experience focused exclusively on Maserati.
This coincides with a surge in international sales, which have risen from just 6200 units in 2012 to 36 500 in 2014, but that's not to say that the prestigious marque is about to lose its exclusivity, as the company plans to cap it annual sales at 75 000.
“You're still not going to see a Maserati on every street corner,” EAI Chief Operating Officer Glen Sealey reassured us, “a Maserati is like a tailor-made Italian suit in a world of uniforms.”
The importer aims to provide the dealership experience to match; as South African operations manager Brad Graaff puts it: “Our showrooms will be havens of highly personalised service with design style and presentation that represents Maserati's Italian roots and hospitality, down to the freshly brewed Italian coffee.”
Graaff added that all service technicians undergo extensive training in Italy.
EAI has already opened a 16-car dealership in Bryanston, Gauteng, and plans are afoot to extend the sales and service representation to Durban and Cape Town soon.
The dealers will sell a full spread of models comprising of the Quattroporte, GranTurismo, GranCabrio and the new Ghibli sedan. Maserati will also introduce an SUV called the Levante next year.
GHIBLI LANDS IN SA
The group is in the process of launching the Ghibli in South Africa, which is a smaller and sportier alternative to the Quattroporte 'limo'.
Slightly larger than the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class, the Ghibli is pitched as a more exclusive alternative to the default German contenders although going the Italian way comes at a premium with Ghibli prices starting at R1 322 000.
It is jaw-droppingly gorgeous though and comes with the bragging rights of an engine built by Ferrari (but designed by Maserati), in the case of the petrol-powered versions at least.
Both petrol models are powered by a twin-turbocharged 3-litre V6 engine mated to an eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox.
In the standard Ghibli, the engine is rated at 243kW and 500Nm and in the S it's uptuned to 301kW and 550Nm, allowing for respective 0-100km/h sprint times of 5.6 and 5.0 seconds and top speeds of 263 and 285km/h. For those with more of a focus on efficiency, Maserati is also offering a diesel version, good for 202kW/600Nm, a 6.3s sprint and combined consumption of 5.9 litres per 100km.
The rear-wheel-drive sedan boasts a perfectly balanced 50:50 front to rear weight distribution, and comes with a limited slip differential and five-bar multi-link rear suspension.
The cabin glamour is up to you, with Maserati offering a variety of leather qualities and colours as well as a wide choice of materials, including wood and carbon fibre inlays.
Your command centre is a 21cm touch-screen infotainment system and you can option up to a 10-speaker Harman Kardon sound system as well as features such as WiFi connectivity, Siri integration and blind spot alert.
SO WHAT'S THE DAMAGE?
Ghibli (243kW/500Nm) R1 322 000
Ghibli Diesel (202kW/600Nm) R1 370 000
Ghibli S (301kW/550Nm) R1 622 000
As mentioned, this kind of exclusivity and glamour comes at a premium of about 500 grand, given that you can take home a 225kW BMW 535i for R866 527 or a 330kW 550i for R1 118 105.
Is the Italian worth the extra money in your book?