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Maserati Levante Base Price Will Be 10% Higher than the Ghibli

Everything is riding on the success of the Levante, Maserati’s first ever SUV model. After sales of the Ghibli and Quattroporte have been declining steadily, it’s time for the Levante to take a chunk out of the Cayenne market and bring home the bacon.
Levante SUV 1 photo
Photo: Maserati
But all the styling and the Ferrari-derived engines mean nothing if the Levante costs too much. After all, the Cayenne and Range Rover Sport have built a solid, almost unshakable reputation. The Levante will be officially revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2016, and pricing details should arrive several months after that. But we don’t have to wait that long to find out a few details.

Peter Denton, the regional manager for Maserati North Europe, said the following in an interview with Auto Express magazine: “It will have a 10 percent premium on the Ghibli in terms of starting price.”

Ghibli prices change according to the market, but a general 10% increase is quite easy to understand. For example, in Britain, the Ghibli starts at £49,160, so the SUV will be roughly £55,000. As for America, the base sedan is $70,600, putting the Levante on a $77,660 pedestal.

In both cases, that means the Levante will cost roughly the same as a Porsche Cayenne and Range Rover Sport. Of course, things are never white and black in the auto industry. True Car says the 2015 Maserati Ghibli is trending $7,009 below the official MSRP, so incentives could help undercut these rivals.

So why would you ignore the established models and go for something Italian? For starters, the Cayenne is old and heavy. There’s something good to be said about the novelty value and the strength of Maserati’s design. However, the strongest point of the Levante is going to be the soundtrack, as even the basic Maserati engines sound like they belong in a race car.

To be more specific, the gasoline V6 will be available with either 350 or 425 HP while the V8 will make more than 560 HP, although it won’t be available at launch. On the diesel front, the outputs will go from 250 to 275 HP with the V6, and eventually to 340 HP when a new twin-turbo unit is ready.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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