Maserati Launches Grecale Soon, Hybrid Car Ready To Challenge Tesla

JAKARTA – Italian car manufacturer Maserati launched the new Grecale sport utility vehicle (SUV) on Tuesday, March 22. This marks another step in their expansion of the automaker's reach and another part of its turnaround strategy.

The launch was originally planned for November last year. But the launch of the new model has been delayed due to a global chip shortage.

Maserati, the luxury brand of automotive group Stellantis, said that the Grecale model would be available in the second half of this year. This car will be available in three versions. Two four-cylinder mild hybrid cars powered 300 and 330-horse. Then, a high-performance 530-horse hybrid car powered by a V6 petrol. The car is claimed to be able to reach a top speed of 285 kilometers per hour.

Maserati Chief Executive Davide Grasso said deliveries of the first cars to customers will begin in the summer for the EMEA region and will soon follow in the United States.

With a length of 4.859 meters and selling prices ranging from around 74.000 to 111.000 euros, the Grecale will compete with semi-luxury car models including the Porsche Cayenne and Macan, Mercedes GLE, BMW X5, and Land Rover Discovery.

While a full electric car version of the Maserati will be available next year. This electric car will later become a new and potential competitor for Tesla, the largest electric car manufacturer in the world.

The Grecale, which means wind, like its “older sister”, Maserati Levante, will be produced at the Cassino Stellantis factory, in central Italy.

Maserati aims to offer what it calls a 'Folgore' full-electric version of each model. This includes the MC20 super sports car worth more than 200,000 euros (Rp 2.8 billion) by 2025. Their cars will be fully electric by 2030.

The first generation of battery electric vehicles (BEV) is the new GranTurismo, which will debut before the Grecale in 2023.