A press conference to mark the opening of the sole Maserati distributor in Taiwan was held at the luxury Grand Hyatt Taipei hotel earlier this month. The event captured the imagination with many journalists present - in all, one hundred and ten reporters and four television crews. Representing the Modenese company was Simone Niccolai, Head of Sales for Far East Asia. He was flanked by Andrea Cittadini, from the Press Office. The two spoke in the presence of the Italian ambassador, Maria Assunta Accili. The Modena Motori management team then outlined its development plan. This ranged from the creation of the showroom to services offered to clients.

The conference room gave out onto a fabulous terrace, suspended 15m up, on which three models were displayed. These included a splendid Quattroporte, making its first appearance in Taiwan.

Modena Motori Taiwan, will be the sole distributor for Maserati - as well as Ferrari - in the country. "Taiwan is one of the major markets for luxury products and we want to get a share of it," said Simone Niccolai, Business Development and Sales Manager for Maserati, during the lavish ceremony which was held in the City of Taipei earlier this month. "Starting today, we have an official Maserati importer," he added.
 

"There are already some Ferrari and Maserati car owners in Taiwan who purchased their cars through different channels. We will be inviting them to our Taiwan facility as soon as we have everything in place. We want them to be a part of our family. Our clients could bring their cars there for repairs and maintenance work since the place will be manned by highly-trained technicians," he continued. "Getting spare parts will also not be a problem since we will have them all in our Taiwan shop too." Niccolai went on to say that Taiwan, South Korea are China are important emerging markets for the Trident brand, while Japan and Australia make up the regional focus.

Modena Motori expect a quota of around 25 Maseratis annually, the majority of which will be the Quattroporte saloon which will sell for around NT$6.8 million. "We are doing things for the longer term so we'll take it one step at a time. If our cars are well received, we will try to accommodate the market's demand. There is however still a long list of customers waiting for their Maserati Quattroportes," he concluded.