Ghibli marks first for Maserati

THE all-new Maserati Ghibli marks a major milestone in the luxury marque’s history — for the first time the Italian maestros will have two four-door saloons in its model range.

The Ghibli saloon is the company’s first foray into the premium E-segment of the car market and comes with a choice of two twin-turbo V6 petrol engines or a new efficient diesel power plant. Luxury, of course, comes as standard!

Coming just months after the Italian carmaker unveiled its Quattroporte, the Ghibli is smaller, shorter, lighter, more dynamic, less expensive and more economical than the flagship Quattroporte and provides a cornerstone in Maserati’s plans to build 50,000 cars a year by 2015.

Its petrol range provides high performance from both of the 3.0-litre V6 petrol engines.

The Ghibli has a more-focused, sportier philosophy than the larger Quattroporte and its most powerful model, the Ghibli S, has 301 kW (410HP) of power, races to 62mph in 5.0  seconds and stretches out to a top speed of 177mph (285km/h).

The Ghibli is also the first Maserati in history to be powered by a diesel engine, with a turbo-diesel V6 producing all the sound, refinement and driving pleasure typical of Maserati while delivering fuel consumption over 47mpg (below 6 l/100km) on the NEDC combined cycle. The Ghibli diesel will also become the first Maserati with Start-Stop technology.

It shares much of its core architecture, including its crash safety, chassis, suspension architecture, engines and LED headlight technology, with the larger Quattroporte, though it is 50kg lighter, 173mm shorter in the wheel base and 291mm shorter overall.

The Ghibli’s design team was challenged to produce a saloon that emphasised its more dynamic driving characteristics through a more aggressive visual personality, yet still maintained discernible visual links with the Quattroporte.

The outline of the body reflects a coupe-like philosophy for the four-door saloon, while there are strong feline hints around the Ghibli’s grille and headlights. The grille takes its inspiration from the current GranTurismo and it can draw a line back to the classic 1950s A6 GCS.

Inside, the Ghibli sets itself apart from the Quattroporte with a unique dashboard design that perfectly matches its sportier and more youthful character without losing any of the luxury expected from Maserati. It also delivers a sporty design combined with all the spaciousness expected in an executive saloon from Maserati.

The Ghibli, Ghibli S and Ghibli Diesel all utilise an eight-speed automatic transmission to deliver their performance, providing seamless comfort with fast gear shifting for hard acceleration.

All Ghibli models deliver new standards in quality in every area from design, development, fabrication and process controls. It is produced in a new plant that combines Maserati’s traditions of craftsmanship with cutting-edge technologies that are able to guarantee outstanding quality by controlling even the tiniest of details.

The Ghibli has entered the E-segment sports premium market with a marked advantage in cabin craftsmanship and detailing, offering luxury features like the Maserati Touch Control screen,  reversing camera, Poltrona Frau leather interior and the 15-speaker Bowers & Wilkins audio system, as well as WLAN-based WiFi and compatibility with most modern mobile phone systems.

The original 1963 Quattroporte invented the concept of the luxury sports saloon, the new Quattroporte continues to be the genre’s benchmark and now the Ghibli offers all of the Quattroporte’s qualities in a more dynamic, and more affordable package.

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