Maserati Ghibli now in South Africa – a tailored Italian suit in a world of uniforms?

The newly-formed Maserati South Africa has just released the mid-size Maserati Ghibli sports executive sedan onto the local market.

Maserati Ghibli – a tailored Italian suit in a world of uniforms

The Ghibli breaks the mould by being the first-ever Maserati in this size car.  It is the smaller brother to the well-known Maserati Quattroporte.  Where the Quattroporte means “4 doors”, the Ghibli resurrects this Maserati name used on previous Maserati sports cars, which takes the name of a hot south south-easterly wind, at its strongest at the onset of spring season, so the South African launch of the Ghibli is most appropriate timing.

This is the smallest sedan Maserati builds, as it enters a more popular segment of mid-size cars.  This does not mean the Ghibli, being smaller younger brother, is in any way neglected.  When designing the Maserati Ghibli – every aspect of it – the Maserati passion had to come through.  It is meant to maintain the Maserati mystique, and everything from body shape to interior and drivetrain had to be in true Maserati character.

Where many competing mid-size and large cars are designed to fit in, the Ghibli stands out as the tailored Italian suit in a world of uniforms.

Maserati South Africa – a new company with new plans

Having split from Viglietti Motors, where Maserati did not get nearly the attention of the Ferrari cars and brand, Maserati South Africa now operates on its own under European Automotive Imports.

Maserati Johannesburg has its own upmarket Maserati-only showroom in William Nicol Drive, Bryanston, strategically positioned along the road entrance to the Bentley and Lamborghini showroom.  The Maserati Johannesburg is the first branch, with Maserati Cape Town and Maserati Durban to follow.

Maserati – Fueled by Passion

If your car company slogan is Fueled by Passion, you know these are no ordinary cars.

The engines are all 3.0 V6 turbo V6, and the petrol engines were co-engineered with Ferrari.  The first diesel Maserati engine is also available, but fear not, as it was specifically designed to also feel and sound sporty.  For all engines, Maserati believes in keeping an authentic engine sound – none of other cars’ fake speaker synthesiser engine sound nonsense in a Maserati, thanks.

The Ghibli Diesel engine issues a powerful 202kW and 570Nm with 600Nm on overboost.  Well, you did not expect Maserati to make a weak engine, even if it is diesel, surely.

On the petrol side, the pair of V6s are offered in the Ghibli and Ghibli S.  In the Ghibli the outputs are 243kW and 500Nm, while the Ghibli S turns that up to 301kW and 550Nm for a 0-100 km/h sprint of an exact 5 seconds.  The V8 engines are reserved for the big Quattroporte and the GranTurismo coupé and the GranCabrio.

All Maserati Ghibli use a rear-wheel drive with 8-speed automatic driveline.

An interior design where classic meets modern and upmarket ambience

The interior design sees classic meet modern in the signature Maserati analogue clock keeps this strong tradition, teaming up with the touch-screen on the centre console.

The interior also has a definite upmarket ambience, clearly with top-quality finishes and a real sense that this car is something special.  19 standard interior colour and trim combinations can be selected, with Maserati encouraging buyers of the Ghibli to customise their car.

Market positioning of the Ghibli makes it more attainable than you might think

Usually many would just walk by and do a quick window-shop past those expensive boutiques, but when you actually go in to have yourself measured for a tailored suit, the experience is special and not as pricey as you expect – perhaps the Maserati Ghibli is a more attainable tailored Italian suit than you think.

Positioned not against any other car specifically, but fitting in the same body size and thereby playing in the same space as cars like the upper-end models from BMW 5 Series and M5, Mercedes-Benz E-Class and E63, the Jaguar XF and XFR, the Ghibli fits in pricewise just above these cars you see anyday anywhere – with the abovementioned cars in the R1-R1.65 million price range, the Maserati Ghibli starts at R 1.322, followed by the Ghibli Diesel at R1.37m, topped off by the Ghibli S at R 1.622m.  So, you could have a Maserati instead.

You can safely ignore the old Maserati reputation, as all today’s Maserati cars are properly engineered and built to very high standards.  When you buy a Maserati locally, the confidence of a 3-year unlimited km warranty and a 5-year / 100 000 km maintenance plan are both included.

We won’t even go into equipment included, but all safety items like stability control and 7 airbags (1 for driver knee also) are standard.

Maserati Concierge – a free value-add service, without expiry date

When looking for information or needing to be guided to a destination, the Maserati Concierge service is a free value-add service included in the sale of a new Maserati, but differentiates itself from other car companies offering this handy service by not attaching a time limit for receiving this service to the car – the concierge service has no expiry date.

Maserati Lavanté SUV confirmed for SA

Maserati will also enter the top-end SUV market with its new Lavanté, which is confirmed to visit our local shores at the back end of 2016.