exactly. that's what im worried about too.. realistically, the brand is going to lose some of its exotic cachet.. now with the 'relatively' affordable ghibli.. it's still going to be a more exotic brand than the bmw's, mercedes, and audis out there, but no doubt its gonna be relatively common on the road (especially with the levante and new GT coming out soon also).
i would equate the brand to porsche in terms of exclusivity.. (you can get a porsche boxter for 50k).. i think eventually that's where maserati will end up.. a premium italian brand with a sexy brand name, but its not going to be a rare sight as it was before.. which in a way is a shame.. ive always been opposed to maserati coming out with the ghibli base model.. the S or SQ4 model should be the standard model
Definitely, and agreed. Though, the Boxster does start at similar pricing, I think it retains more "exclusivity" merely due to its nature making it a car that won't sell like crazy, regardless of price. The Ghibli is a much more conventional and utilitarian car, so if well received by the market, can really start chipping away at that Maserati exclusivity factor.
I hate to say it, but we've seen this story so many times before. Boutique brand builds cachet by making aspirational cars, then a corporation acquires or "saves" them, corporate greed ensues, corporation wants little brand to milk its cachet for all its worth. Then they put out an uncharacteristically cost-cutted and mass market product compared to what they had before, cut their entry price in half, sales soar, more greed kicks in, one SUV comes out, every desperate housewife and soccer mom flock to it, another SUV, then another, then they think "wow, what 'cachet' was it that made this brand what it is in the first place?.... Screw it, we've lost track, let's just turn it into a mass market manufacturer with a couple Sports Cars to fill the guise of "still catering to our roots", therefore a Sedan that starts in the high $20's or low $30's is on the horizon, and now you have sales that have soared thousands of percents, but essentially just another brand that has had its soul stripped out and has more SUV's than enthusiast models. Sounds like Mercedes and BMW to me.
I'll admit I was never necessarily an enthusiast towards Maserati's, they kind of flew under my radar, even though I did get an early personal glimpse at them from my Uncle's 80's QP (the big, cool, supremely unreliable boxy one with the intoxicatingly Italian smelling leather that's missing from the Ghibli), but I really hope this doesn't happen to them. Some things have to remain sacred for f's sake.
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