The brand Maserati, has always symbolized great luxury and sportiness, a range of very high performance cars, which is currently going through a rather negative period in sales. Sales figures for the first half of the current year have set off several alarms within the company. The numbers showed a 50 percent drop compared to the same period last year, a very significant drop. A situation that quickly shone a spotlight on the difficulties the brand has been going through lately. Despite sales crisis Carlos Tavares remains optimistic about Maserati’s recovery
The causes of Maserati’s problems
The Italian brand symbolized by its famous Trident is going through a period full of turbulence. Sales figures have recorded for the first six months of 2024 a rather substantial drop for Maserati, a 50 percent difference from last year. Going into detail, we can see that the number of cars sold in 2023, in the same reporting period, had been 15,300 while in the current year only 6,500 were sold. This is a figure that could also call into question the future of a brand that until now has always been highly regarded all over the world.
Now, according to Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, the issue for Maserati’s manufacturer does not lie in the quality of its products, as they are describable as rather flawless cars. Not even the public pricing strategy would be the problem, but rather it would be a flaw in the planning of the various marketing strategies that the brand is using. Tavares confirmed that Maserati has the right vehicles and technologies, but there is a need to implement improvement in communication and market positioning of the brand. Maserati, as is the case with several brands in the Stellantis group, is under close observation, which has been given a ten-year deadline to return to the top of the charts. If this does not happen, the group might even consider closing Maserati.
A historic brand could be saved by electrification
In trying to make a strong comeback to the standards of the modern car market, Maserati may decide to focus firmly on the electric factory. Actually, the range has already begun its electrification journey, as the GranCabrio Folgore has already been launched. Coming in its company are other cars, such as that of the MC20 Folgore, which is expected next year. In addition, an electric SUV is also expected to arrive in 2027 and a new generation of the Quattroporte model for the following year, which is 2028.
In both style and closeness, when compared favorably with the other Italian brand and belonging to the same reason, namely Ferrari, it seems almost inevitable. The Maranello brand is continuing to achieve excellent results, both in sales and profits. Some speculations have even thought that a return of the Maserati brand under Ferrari management, as happened in the past, might be likely. This would be a very interesting hypothesis, but currently these are only rumors, without any kind of confirmation from either manufacturer. Maserati will certainly try to manage the situation as best it can with its own weapons and strategies, the clock is ticking but it is enough to take the brand to where it deserves to be.