This Is Maserati's New SUV Before You're Supposed To See It

Sep. 10, 2020 5:25 AM ET by Sebastian Cenizo Scoop / 4 Comments

The Grecale is ready to rival the BMW X3.

Well, what a way for Maserati to let the world know it's still alive and kicking. The reveal of the new MC20 supercar yesterday blew us away, with an all-new in-house developed engine, new architecture, and tons of new tech. But the Italian automaker isn't stopping there. At a private event at the Italian marque's headquarters, we were given an exclusive glimpse at a new Maserati SUV set to take on the BMW X3. Dubbed the Maserati Grecale, the new SUV is smaller than the Levante and is named after a fierce north-easterly wind of the Mediterranean Sea. Sound familiar? Maserati has named its vehicles after a gust of air on numerous occasions, much like Pagani did with its Huayra. The Italians seem to have a thing for elemental names.

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The new SUV will be built at Maserati's Cassino plant where the brand will invest around €800 million - a little over $947 million - in the new production line. Unfortunately, it seems that Maserati is still in the early stages of development as there isn't much more info on the new model, but Maserati says that this new SUV will play a key role for the brand. This makes sense considering the success that brands like Porsche have had with models like the Macan. Along with a new brand identity that is being called an evolution of the existing image, Maserati is also planning to expand its Trofeo range. Will this mean a rival to the BMW X3 M as well? Possibly, at some point.

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The architecture fr the Grecale hasn't yet been confirmed, but we suspect it could ride on the Giorgio platform Alfa Romeo has used for the similarly-sized Alfa Romeo Stelvio. This perhaps means that the Grecale Trofeo might inherit the Alfa's 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 engine developing circa 500 horsepower, but it could possibly surprise us all and inherit the 621-hp Nessuno V6 introduced in the Maserati MC20.

New models and a huge investment in eco-friendly and tech-forward assembly lines means that Maserati sees itself returning to the forefront of the automotive arena, and we can't help but admit that we're truly excited for the company.