Strength and vigor -that’s what the symbol of THE Italian luxury car brand Maserati represents. Being true to it’s meaning, the car maker is back in India yet again. The luxury sports carmaker is set to officially re-enter the Indian automobile market after being away for 2 years after a poor first stint.
Let’s give you a sneak peek into what this luxury brand has to offer this time around to it’s Indian customers and why did it fail to perform up to its age old reputation in its last stint.
MASERATI-THE LUXURY CAR BRAND:
Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established in 1914, with a mission to “Build ultra-luxury performance automobiles with timeless Italian style… “. Owned by the Italian car giant Fiat Chrysler group since 1993, Maserati is placing its production output at 75,000 vehicles globally.
WHAT DOES MASERATI AND FERRARI HAVE IN COMMON?
Maserati was initially associated with Ferrari S.p.A, also owned by Fiat, but it has more recently become a part of the sports car group.
The company also debuted in India with the infamous Shreyans Group, just like Ferrari did when it first got launched in the Indian market. Both of them failed to impress in their first debut after numerous complaints from customers. Let’s see what the future holds for Maserati this time –
WHY IT FAILED IN ITS FIRST DEBUT:
The company had first entered India in 2011. It pulled the plug on it’s association with the Ashish Chordia-owned Shreyans Group as its official importer and distributor, due to mounting complaints from customers because of poor after sale services given to them.
Let us acquaint you with this fellow, Ashish Chordia. The man that saw potential, saw a possibility, an opportunity to transform how foreign companies saw India as a potential market -forever and for the worse. This gentleman brought luxury automobile manufacturers, such as Ducati, Audi, Porsche, Ferrari and Maserati, into the Indian market.
Confused? Lemme make it easier for you.
Ashish Chordia brought all of the above mentioned companies to India under various different dealerships and duped the customers of these high-end cars by (A) giving them a different car than what they paid for. (I mean come on, if I paid for Cadbury Silk why would I take home Cadbury Dairymilk at a higher price). Only this isn’t chocolate, we’re talking big numbers here. (B) By providing poor after sale services and (C) in certain cases running away with people’s money.
He operated under these different dealerships:
Precision Motors for Ducati
Precision Cars for Porsche
Shreyans Group for Ferrari and Maserati
Shreyans Motors for Audi
This time it has done away with any intermediary and plans to import and sell cars through its appointed dealers. The cars will be manufactured in Italy and shall come as completely built units to India.
WHAT TO EXPECT AND LOOK OUT FOR:
The company plans to sell 4 of its models — Quattroporte, Ghibli, Gran Turismo and GranCabrio, priced between Rs 1.14 crore to Rs 2.2 crore. In addition, Maserati will introduce it’s SUV offering, the Levante in 2016.
The car giant plans to launch models priced up to Rs 2.2 crore with a target to sell only in double digits each year to maintain its exclusivity. The company plans to expand to other parts of the country with an aim to set up dealerships in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, with AMP Supercars Pvt. Ltd., Bagga Luxury Motorcars LLP and Jubilant Autoworks Pvt. Ltd. representing the brand in these cities respectively. It plans to set up dealerships in Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Chennai in the future.
Ghiblis –It is available with a 3.0-litre V6 petrol and diesel engine. This car is expected to be a rival for the Mercedes-Benz CLS, Audi A7 and the BMW 6-series Gran Coupe.
Quattroporte- The Quattorporte is a 4-door luxury sedan. It is available with a choice of 3.0-litre V6, 3.8-litre V8 petrol engines, and a 3.0 litre V6 diesel engine.
GranTurismo- The GranTurismo is a 2-door sports coupe that is powered by with either a 4.2-litre or a 4.7-litre V8 petrol engines.
GranCabrio- It is a a four-seat convertible, available with either a 4.2 or a 4.7-litre V8, and a choice of a conventional automatic or automated manual gearbox.
Maserati has announced the prices of it’s offerings for India:
Maserati Ghibli (diesel) = INR 1.1 crores onwards,
Maserati Quattroporte (diesel) = INR 1.5 crores,
Maserati Quattroporte (GTS) = INR 2.2 crores,
Maserati GranTurismo = INR 1.8 crores,
Maserati GranCabrio = INR 2 crores.
Pheww! That got pretty long. Well it had to, an eminent personality such as Ashish Chordia needs a detailed introduction. But hey, it’s isn’t over yet, we’ll keep you in the loop for more information on this.
Until next time! (a presto)
