Hiring McKinsey Won’t Fix Maserati, But Maybe I Can

Between Jaguar Land Rover suspending shipments to America, Ineos and Ferrari hiking prices, and major manufacturers being forced into holding patterns, the White House’s auto tariffs have thrown the whole industry for a loop. The boardrooms of every major automaker are now war rooms, and while this is a stressful time for major brands like Toyota, small ones like Maserati are suffering even harder.

To get Maserati through this tumultuous time, Stellantis is hiring global consulting firm McKinsey, a company known for hiring recent graduates with an overabundance of confidence to simultaneously make questionable suggestions of improvements and take the blame when things don’t work out. As Bloomberg reports:

Stellantis Chairman John Elkann has asked the consultancy to assess options for the brands including partnering with other companies to access new technology, sources said.

While some Asian companies expressed interest, the considerations are at an early stage, the people said. Longer-term scenarios include spinning off Maserati, the sources said.

Tariffs are just the latest factor in what feels like a decade-plus spiral for Maserati. Hop in the hot tub time machine, let’s see where things have gone.

Back in the early 2000s, Maserati wasn’t a subsidiary of Fiat, but instead a subsidiary of Ferrari. Keep this in mind, because not only was it a heavy influence on the product of the time, it also played a key role in Maserati’s comeback. See, Maserati’s main product in America during the 1980s was the Biturbo – a cool car, but one with a terrible reputation. Even the 1986 press car suffered serious drivability issues during Car And Driver testing, with the magazine writing, “When cold, it hesitates, bucks, and even stalls. Nothing is quite as embarrassing as stall­ing a Maserati at a stoplight, especially one with an automatic transmission.” After a rough decade or so, Maserati pulled its product line from America, not to return until 2002.

However, when Maserati did return, its products only shared a badge with the ones Americans remembered. The European-market 3200 GT evolved into the Coupé and Spyder, now sporting a naturally aspirated Ferrari-built V8. However, the big move would be the first car developed entirely under Ferrari ownership, the fifth-generation Quattroporte.

This Pininfarina-styled sedan launched with all the highs and lows of a brand under Ferrari ownership at the time. We’re talking about a thunderous 4.2-liter Ferrari-built V8, a front-mid-engined chassis with double wishbones on both axles designed to do things no other big sedan could, and a hideously unreliable single-clutch automated transmission that offered all the refinement of My First Manual Transmission Lesson with the longevity of a dragonfly. However, it still drove like a car developed under Ferrari’s watchful eye, and once Maserati put a regular automatic transmission in it, the Quattroporte V would become sensational. What’s more, the first GranTurismo was a cut-down version of this same platform, just with a ZF 6HP conventional automatic from the start, giving Maserati exactly the sort of lineup a boutique automaker needed in the aughts.

The success of Maserati in the 2000s came partly because it was a value brand. That might sound strange considering the cars were more expensive than similar Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs, but they were substantially cheaper than Ferraris. Getting a chunk of that DNA for a whole lot less cash had appeal, and it seemed to work right up until Maserati was ripped from Ferrari’s arms, reorganized under the Fiat umbrella, and had to engineer its own cars again. While the sixth-generation Quattroporte was the first new model to be developed solely under Fiat, rather than Ferrari, ownership, the 2014 Ghibli is perhaps most emblematic of this stumble.

It starts with a new architecture dubbed M159 that, while capable, served up limited joy. The steering wasn’t great, a hydraulic setup that was unusually aloof and light on feel. At the same time, the naturally aspirated V8 made way for a three-liter biturbo V6 that was robust on the boil but could easily be caught off-boost thanks to the wide ratio spread of the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission.

Despite smelling expensive, some interior parts of the Ghibli felt weirdly cheap. Would customers notice that major touch points, including the start-stop button and entire infotainment system, were essentially shared with Chrysler rental cars? Maserati banked on “no,” but guess what? The press and some customers certainly did. It all added up to a car that was more expensive than a Mercedes-Benz E-Class while being a less resolved product, and it wasn’t great enough to drive for customers to overlook its limitations.

Flash forward nearly a decade, and after the Ghibli and sixth-generation Quattroporte didn’t quite live up to expectations, what does Maserati do? Instead of lowering prices, it allegedly stole Alfa Romeo’s homework. The Grecale crossover and new GranTurismo coupe are both evolutions of the Giorgio platform underneath the Alfa Romeo Giulia, which is a $42,000 car. At the same time, the MC20 is allegedly a variation on what was supposed to be the successor to Alfa Romeo’s 4C. Seeing how the 33 Stradale supercar is essentially a rebodied MC20 lends some credence to that insider theory.

At the same time, pricing has gone through the roof. The new GranTurismo starts at a whopping $158,000, and nears the $200,000 mark for the fast trim levels. If you want a Grecale compact crossover with a V6 engine, you’re looking at a price tag of $106,900, and the electric Grecale is $109,000. Now, instead of getting Ferrari DNA for nearly Mercedes-Benz money, you’re getting Alfa Romeo DNA for Porsche money. No wonder global sales aren’t living up to expectations. So, Mr. Elkann, Chairperson of Stellantis, if you want a few ideas on how to fix Maserati without having to hire McKinsey, here are some that are totally and completely free.

1. Focus on value because the Maserati name isn’t enough to pull a huge premium. The GranTurismo cannot be 50 percent more expensive than the excellent Lexus LC 500. More powerful Grecales can’t be more expensive than equivalent Porsche Macans. They’re Porsche, Maserati isn’t. Sacrificing short-term margins for long-term volume is one of the few ways you can build up Maserati in this current climate without substantial R&D investment. If that means eating the tariffs in an important luxury market, so be it.
2. The Levante needs to be put out to pasture already. It doesn’t matter that the next one won’t be ready for a few years, the current one is the last remaining artifact of a previous generation of products that didn’t live up to expectations. Early examples have depreciated heavily to the point where new ones just don’t have the appeal or showroom presence necessary for a flagship brand.
3. Leverage heritage. Maserati has a legendary racing history with two Formula One driver’s championships under its belt, and a general history of building cars that stimulate the senses. We’re talking about a 110-year-old institution here. Merely mentioning this in copy isn’t enough, Maserati needs to show people its history rather than just tell them about it.

With the right sort of positioning, Maserati can be moderately successful, but it’s clear that the strategies employed over the past decade or so haven’t worked. It’s a long road back to the highs of the late aughts, and it won’t be easy, but product and price will always lead.

Top graphic image: Maserati

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