First look at Maserati’s new
SUV concept which has been unveiled today in Frankfurt. A reskinned version of
Jeep’s new Grand Cherokee, unlike its namesake of eight years ago, the new
Kubang project has been assessed by management, and is poised to be given the
green light for production.
The idea of a developing a
luxury-sporting Maserati SUV follows the hugely successful path beaten by
Porsche with its Cayenne, as well as BMW’s X5. While the first Kubang exercise
was shown in early 2003, at a time when its two German rivals were also entering
the segment, the Trident failed to appreciate the long-sustainability of
high-end SUVs and a decade later it hopes to play catch-up. Maserati will reach
into the Chrysler Group's armoury to borrow the underpinnings for its second
stab at a luxury SUV from the new Jeep Grand Cherokee’s Mercedes-Benz-sourced
architecture, which has already been utilised by Dodge for its own Durango SUV.
While the original Kubang’s
design form came from the pen of Giorgetto Giugiaro (whose studio has now been
absorbed by Volkswagen), the new styling exercise – replacing all the Grand
Cherokee’s visible panels – has been carried out by Fiat’s Turin-based styling
centre headed by Lorenzo Ramaciotti, which oversees all Fiat Group Automobiles
design programmes.
The design of the Kubang shown
today in Frankfurt thus shows off fairly generic SUV design language, reflecting
the current conservative trend of the Fiat Group’s design centre which has
recently produced more evolutionary work, rather that the revolutionary thinking
that the city’s ‘design school’ has been so famous for. The new Kubang concept
follows the Cayenne blueprint of grafting on immediately-identifiable front end
design language; in Maserati’s case, it is the evolved ‘family’ look of the
Quattroporte and GranTurismo, featuring a gaping front grille, raked headlights
and bonnet, and cut-out intakes. The C-pillar form and quarter-light glass also clearly evolve from the
Quattroporte/GranTurismo theme to create an aerodynamically-sweeping tailgate
section.
The rear end of the Kubang
concept hints at the second-generation Cayenne, while the overall form and the
side pronouncements take hints from current Hyundai thinking. There is also a
hint of Buick Enclave, reflecting the fact that the Kubang will be primarily
aimed at a North American audience. Typical trademark Maserati detailing cues
can be seen in the three small air intakes located on the front wing behind the
front wheel.
Maserati is giving away little
technical information in Frankfurt and while most of the under-the-skin
mechanical parts will be carried over from the Grand Cherokee, the press release
points to an evolution of Maserati's current V8 engine being under the bonnet:
“New-generation high-tech Maserati proprietary engines will be designed in
Modena by Paolo Martinelli,” the statement says. The Italian engineer, the
former head of Scuderia Ferrari’s F1 engine programme and now leading engine
development at Fiat Powertrain, will oversee the development of the new engines.
Just like the current Maserati
V8 unit, the statement says that the engine chosen to power the Kubang “will be
produced in Maranello by Ferrari.” It will be mated up to the new ZF-sourced
8-speed automatic transmission which is about to arrive in the showrooms in
Chrysler’s 300 and its rebadged twin, Lancia’s Thema. This ground-breaking new
transmission has already been licenced to the Chrysler Group, and by the time
the Kubang makes its production debut the unit will be built in-house by the
U.S. carmaker which is now majority-owned by Fiat. According to the press
release, the Maserati Product Development Department in Modena will also apply
“specific performance settings” to areas of the Jeep’s mechanicals, such as
suspension, brakes and steering.
Building a luxury SUV on top
of the Jeep Grand Cherokee will be a gamble for Maserati and one that it didn’t
take in 2003. For the most part, however, the shelving of the Kubang project
then was because Ferrari, at that point in time overseeing the Trident’s
fortunes, was groaning under the escalating costs of relaunching the Modenese
brand, to the point where it was soon batted back under Fiat’s control. The
Trident will have to build a compelling case to attract customers from BMW and
Porsche, and while the concept’s styling hasn’t set Frankfurt alight today, a
luxurious interior and powerful engines will doubtless prove key components in
the mix. If Maserati's management can successfully pull off this project and get
it into the marketplace at a competitive price, it could make a significant
contribution to the niche brand's bottom line.
