Maserati Ghibli...Diesel

MuppetCheck

Now this is something I wasn't expecting.

Maserati has launched a new 5-Series competitor. In a bid to raise sales they are offering a diesel variant. Makes commercial sense and it's probably the wisest purchase but there's something that doesn't sit right with me hearing the words "Maserati" and "diesel" in the same sentence. Seems like a move too far into the mainstream in my opinion for a company of it's stature, but that's the way things seem to be going.

Full story: http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/maserati/ghibli/first-drives/maserati-ghibli-diesel-first-drive-review



Can't say I'm a fan of the overly big touchscreen in the centre of the dash.

Eric Cartman

I preffer the touchscreen over the terrible trend of iDrive / COMMAND / lexus mouse type horrible controllers appearing in cars these days, but that touchscreen just looks like an afterthought, the surround on it is horrible.

would be a nice car but does not deserve a diesel. Just taking maserati out of supercar luxury brand to 'just another taxi'

colm_mcm

I think we were having this conversation when porsche launched the cayenne, jaguar brought out the x type, lexus unveiled the IS.
No matter how bad idea it seems at the time and how at odds with the branding it seems, sometimes selling out is the only way to go.

Anjobe

The thing about the Cayenne is that it is the car that Porsche sell most of, and therefore make most profit from. We all know its not a "proper" Porsche but the bottom line is that the Cayenne funds the development of the 911 etc. So maybe its the same here - a Maserati that will sell in large volumes should be seen as a good thing, as it will enable them to keep making the higher end stuff.

Leonard Hofstadter

I'd prefer if they didn't, but this is fairly old news. All models will have a minimum of six cylinders too - the way it should be in an executive saloon rather than the four cylinder poverty spec nonsense that the Germans offer. I know most people buy an executive car with the wrong number of cylinders, but that's largely because you have to go up to a 530d these days to get a 5 series with the correct number of cylinders - in the good old days even the lowly 520i had the six cylinders. It's a similar story with the Mercs and Audis - though at least Audi's competitor to the 525d and E250 CDI still has the correct number of cylinders - for now anyway.

Voodoomelon

There's no such thing as a step too far anymore. If you continue to make V8s and V12s and nothing else, you're taking many steps backwards. I'd be surprised if V12s are still being made in 10-15 years.

Ghibli is a horrible name, but the car is nice.

unkel

It was 15 years ago that BMW launched the 6 cylinder 530d. Motoring journos all over the shop were shocked at the time that is was as fast as the comparable petrol 5-series. As Colm said, move on a few years and there was the Porsche with the diesel engine (wrong imho), now the Maserati diesel (very wrong imho)

The reality is that if it makes commercial sense to offer a higher end car with a diesel engine, the manufacturer is going to do it. That I or some other people don't like the idea is irrelevant...

Saab Ed

Shame its such an ugly bastard

unkel

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Ghibli is a horrible name

Only for a native English speaker

dr.fuzzenstein

Now to wait for the new three cylinder, 1 liter Ferrari. And everyone will swear blind it's better than that horrible 12 cylinder yoke. And that's the worst of it.
Following that will be the new pedal-powered Aston and then the Roller driven by hamsters in the wheels.
And I drive a Focus diesel. I like diesels. Always had a diesel of some form or another.
But there's a limit. And a place for everything. Ketchup is fine, but would you splash it all over your lobster thermidor? Or as Jezza said, it's like the Mona Lisa with a mustache.

PyeContinental

I was all set to vote yes, but now I'm not so sure. It is a hard reality that they either make diesel cars or soon enough they may not be making any cars at all.

There'll still be models with big petrol engines and those will confer the "halo-effect" on these less lofty diesel models. In a way, there's nothing really new about this. Lancia made a 2.5 litre 4-cylinder diesel engined Thema back in the 80s and 90s, yet it didn't detract from how cool the flagship model with the Ferrari V8 was.

Why not compete with BMW and Mercedes in the executive diesel market, I suppose. The larger Mercedes and BMWs with 6-cylinder diesel engines still retain a sense of class and luxury, even though the concept of a diesel luxury car sounds wrong on paper.

Big Nasty

Off topic but a man I know (fairly wealthy, well travelled and in to his cars) was telling me a few years back that he was going to look at a Quattroporte. He was in a 645 at the time so I says 'Going from a coupe to a saloon - must be getting old'. It was just a bit of banter but anyhow he tries to insist that a Quattroporte is a coupe. :eek:

Eh, what do you think 'quattro' and 'porte' actually mean ya tik!

ION08

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Off topic but a man I know (fairly wealthy, well travelled and in to his cars) was telling me a few years back that he was going to look at a Quattroporte. He was in a 645 at the time so I says 'Going from a coupe to a saloon - must be getting old'. It was just a bit of banter but anyhow he tries to insist that a Quattroporte is a coupe. :eek:

Eh, what do you think 'quattro' and 'porte' actually mean ya tik!

Yeah but a cls merc has 4 door and its considered a coupe.

As is the 6 series gran coupe

John_Rambo

It's as wrong as a creche called the Jimmy Saville Creche.

ba_barabus

The mark IV Golf TDI finally has some competition

skyhighflyer

I want it.

166man

Jaypers Autocar reviews are so full of repetitive sh1t these days....:(

MuppetCheck

Not the clear cut "they're selling out" result I was expecting so far.

Celly Smunt

I wonder if the servicing bills and repairs will be competitive,that's the deal-breaker.

unkel

ION08 wrote: »

Yeah but a cls merc has 4 door and its considered a coupe.

As is the 6 series gran coupe

They can call it what they want, it might have a sleek roof, but a 4/5 door car is by definition not a coupé in my book

bmstuff

pmcmahon wrote: »

I wonder if the servicing bills and repairs will be competitive,that's the deal-breaker.

Maserati parts are always expensive. It is cheaper to buy parts from a Ferrari dealer rather than a Maserati equipped with a Ferrari engine from a Maserati dealer...

Now Maserati wants to go mainstream that's fine. But they have no dealer's network. That's their next problem.

unkel

bmstuff wrote: »

Now Maserati wants to go mainstream that's fine. But they have no dealer's network. That's their next problem.

They could always call it the Chrysler Ghibli and (try and) sell it in the states

bmstuff

unkel wrote: »

They could always call it the Chrysler Ghibli and (try and) sell it in the states

You might be aware already or not given your response, but the first Maserati 4x4 is actually being built by Chrysler in the US...

galwaytt

....its down to emissions and EU regulations. If you don't have a diesel in your model line up as a manufacturer, then you'll fall foul of EU mandated CO2 targets and fail EWVTA -Type Approval.

This could be a box ticking exercise for that. ...

MuppetCheck

galwaytt wrote: »

....its down to emissions and EU regulations. If you don't have a diesel in your model line up as a manufacturer, then you'll fall foul of EU mandated CO2 targets and fail EWVTA -Type Approval.

This could be a box ticking exercise for that. ...

Does that apply to specific brands or manufacturer groups as a whole? Something I had always wondered.

Looking at prices it's bang on 535d M Sport money in the UK.

galwaytt

unkel wrote: »

It was 15 years ago that BMW launched the 6 cylinder 530d. Motoring journos all over the shop were shocked at the time that is was as fast as the comparable petrol 5-series. As Colm said, move on a few years and there was the Porsche with the diesel engine (wrong imho), now the Maserati diesel (very wrong imho)

The reality is that if it makes commercial sense to offer a higher end car with a diesel engine, the manufacturer is going to do it. That I or some other people don't like the idea is irrelevant...

...it was as fast as a Boxster at the time too iirc. ....

bigroad

I am sick of looking at audi s on our roads .The same for merc and bm s .Its about time the Italians got back into the game .Its refreshing to say .If i had the cash i would buy the masser because its different and good enough anyway.An Italian Stalian with 47mpg nice.

Tea 1000

bigroad wrote: »

I am sick of looking at audi s on our roads .The same for merc and bm s .Its about time the Italians got back into the game .Its refreshing to say .If i had the cash i would buy the masser because its different and good enough anyway.An Italian Stalian with 47mpg nice.

Damn straight.
I friggin love it. Ye may all say that it makes Maserati worse as a brand, I say it makes the exec saloon segment much better because of its existence!

166man

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Does that apply to specific brands or manufacturer groups as a whole? Something I had always wondered.

Looking at prices it's bang on 535d M Sport money in the UK.

So much nicer though and a rarer car. On paper at least....

galwaytt

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Does that apply to specific brands or manufacturer groups as a whole? Something I had always wondered.

Not sure tbh. I'd wager there's a resurgence in badge engineering all over the place.

Max Power1

I like it

When is it launching? Quick! Someone buy one of the diesel ones so I can buy it used in 4 years!

toastedpickles

Max Power1 wrote: »

I like it

When is it launching? Quick! Someone buy one of the diesel ones so I can buy it used in 4 years!

Waaaaaaay ahead of ya :pac:

Come back to me in....... 15 or so years? :P

bladespin

WANT!

RobAMerc

I cannot understand when people get on their high horse about a brand producing X or Y or whatever and how it hurts them so bad to think of a Porsche SUV or a Maserati Diesel or whatever.

I remember when Maserati produced nothing but total dross like the BiTurbo.
Awful awful cars that truely tarnished the name of the brand.

Why can't Maserati produce a car with bang up to date technology that gives us all an added choice and in the future the possibility to actually own one?

I am delighted that the brand still exists and whatever they have to do to survive is OK with me. I would rather the world with a diesel Maserati than no Maserati at all !

drunkmonkey

Video review here from Evo,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlBFdR12vEY

Also read somewhere there launching a 7 year finance plan with it. Can't find the link..

realmadrid

Beautiful!

realmadrid

How much are they? Looks a lot better than the BMW and audi in my opinion. Italians know their stuff with car design!

drunkmonkey

Might be worth someone giving Charles Hurst and the Vrt office a call, hurst is the only place selling them in Ireland I think..

http://m.charleshurstgroup.co.uk/maserati

jimgoose

Fair balls to them. Back around 2004 or so the wailing and gnashing of teeth over Jag's new AJDV6 diesel unit was louder and more anguished than anything you'll hear from the Maseratisti. Unfortunately, it is necessary if they are to sell any of the blessed things. The youngfella at the main dealers here in Cork told me he sold seven 2.2d XFs in the first half of 2012 - two of them are in the car park here!