James Selwa, the new head of Maserati North America, discussed the Trident brand's market position, as well as confirming the arrival of a new 'entry level' Coupé, during an interview with AutoWeek magazine this week. The former boss of Rolls Royce and Landrover in North America, James Selwa, was brought in to head MNA last July by Maserati's CEO Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, as he got to grips with building a long-term future for the Trident brand. Kalbfell has recently appointed a number of new personnel as he seeks to improve the logistics, distribution, sales and marketing of Maserati across the Atlantic, but the capture of 55-year-old Selwa is regarded as being most significant.

Maserati has recently identified a North American market niche where few players currently compete: the US$100,000 sedan, reports AutoWeek magazine. With its US$106,850 Quattroporte sedan leading the charge, Maserati sales grew sharply to 2,100 units in 2005, with the Quattroporte accounting for around 60 pct of sales, with 1,550 being delivered.

Selwa, reports AutoWeek, was surprised - when he arrived at Maserati - to find that the Quattroporte's assets weren't being touted. The Quattroporte has a Ferrari-designed 4.2-litre V8 engine with 400bhp. Having Ferrari engineering is a key selling point, Selwa told the magazine. For instance, when Maserati sells against the Jaguar XJ range, Selwa tells salespeople to ask: "'Would you rather have a Ford-developed V8 or would you rather have a Ferrari-developed V8?' It is a no-brainer." Selwa also confirmed that a much-anticipated automatic version of the Quattroporte is on its way, but he didn't offer any timescale. Selwa is very aware that Maserati can't and won't be a Ferrari and believes the highest price Maserati can charge is around US$150,000. "Our sweet spot is about US$115,000 to US$120,000, that is where we dominate," he says.
 

"We have 40 percent of the share in that category." Maserati can go down in price." Its cheapest car in 2005 was the Coupe, priced at US$87,983, including shipping. Selwa will launch a stripped version of the Coupe for US$84,559, including shipping, in 2006. "We have to get into that market with a six-speed bare-bones car without even a paddle shift," Selwa says. "We'll build 50 of them, build them to our specs and test the market."

Despite talk of giving Maserati an SUV based on the 2003 Kubang GT Wagon concept, Selwa told AutoWeek there are no plans for a fourth model. There is ongoing discussion though about a cheaper car for Maserati based on the Alfa Romeo Brera Spider.

Selwa reaffirms that Maserati plans to sell 10,000 cars worldwide by 2010, with half of those sales being in the United States. He says the target can be reached by adding models and renewing the present product range. Getting to 6,000 annual sales will increase return on investment, he comments. "When you see an organization like us and say we're going to turn the corner at 5,000 cars, when you sell 6,000 cars it makes a hell of a difference," he told AutoWeek. "There is just more revenue on all the same space. It starts to get just a little more magical when you get the volume up to 6,000 cars."