Unlike other Stellantis brands, Maserati was a no-show at the recent 2026 Paris motor show, with concepts outlining its future set to be revealed in December.
Stellantis went out of its way to present itself in the best light at the rejuvenated Paris show, flooding the zone with eight concept cars: the Citroen 2CV, Citroen 2CV Fourgonette, Peugeot E-T16, Peugeot RCZ Vision, Fiat Multiplay, Alfa Romeo Cuorerosso, Opel STX, and DS F3ver.
The only two of its Europe-based brands to not produce a concept at Porte de Versailles were its most troubled: Lancia and Maserati. At least Lancia had new metal on hand, with the Gamma hoping to score some converts as the marque's first ever SUV.
Maserati, on the other hand, wasn’t even listed as an official exhibitor at this year's show.
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Speaking at a media event, Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa told AutoExpress and other outlets: “Maserati needs product, Maserati needs technology, and these will be extensively presented in Modena in December.”
Santo Ficili, Maserati's boss, went further, announcing: “A new concept car will be presented. Let me call it Levante, just to say that we are coming back to the E [large] SUV segment.”
The original Levante was the Italian brand's first SUV and went on sale in 2016. Discontinued in 2024, it was available with mild-hybrid turbocharged four-cylinder, twin-turbo V6 and twin-turbo V8 petrol engines, as well as a V6 turbo-diesel.
Maserati may also unveil a second concept at its December presentation, with Mr Ficili going on to talk about the Quattroporte. Through six generations, the Quattroporte large sedan has dipped in and out of Maserati's range, with the last generation wrapping up production in 2023.
In Mr Ficili's mind, the Quattroporte of "the future is not a sedan", but rather "something between a shooting brake and a crossover" that would be "very low [and] big".
This marries up quite neatly with a report last month, which indicated Maserati is working with JAC and Huawei on two EVs.
One will reportedly be an SUV to complement the Alfa Romeo Stelvio-based Grecale, while the other will be a grand tourer.
Both are said to use Huawei's HIMA (Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance) platform, and will have bodies made by JAC in China. These will then be shipped to Italy where final assembly, interior installation and chassis tuning will take place.
This semi-knocked down production model strategy allows Maserati to reduce manufacturing costs and development time, while also allowing it to affix a ‘made in Italy’ label on its new cars and, potentially, skirt the extra tariffs placed by the EU on EVs imported from China.
For the Chinese market, these two cars will be wholly produced by JAC and sold under the Maextro brand.
In the May, Stellantis announced a new method for dealing with its 12-strong array of brands. From now on it will focus 70 per cent of its development budget on its four core brands: Fiat, Peugeot, Jeep and Ram.
In the second tier are five regional brands (Chrysler, Dodge, Citroen, Opel/Vauxhall, and Alfa Romeo). Below them are the “historic brands” DS and Lancia, which will be managed by Citroen and Fiat, respectively. Maserati will stand outside the new brand structure.