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Automotive

Maserati 450 bhp SUV to be based on Jeep Grand Cherokee

By Mike Hanlon
September 11, 2011
Maserati 450 bhp SUV to be based on Jeep Grand Cherokee
The world's first glimpse of the new Maserati SUV "concept" came from Automotive News Europe.
The world's first glimpse of the new Maserati SUV "concept" came from Automotive News Europe.
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The world's first glimpse of the new Maserati SUV "concept" came from Automotive News Europe.
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The world's first glimpse of the new Maserati SUV "concept" came from Automotive News Europe.

Two years ago, the U.S. Treasury helped to broker an arranged marriage between the Daimler-jilted Chrysler and an unlikely Italian suitor in the form of the Fiat Group of companies. Even before consummation it was clear that we would see all manner of cross-brand rebadging amongst the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, Abarth, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari branches of the new extended family, and so it has come to pass. It's been known for some time that Fiat's highly-successful commercial range will be sold in the United States under the Dodge brand and now comes the news that Maserati will announce an SUV at the Frankfurt Motor Show that is based on the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The spilling of the beans on the new Jeep-Maserati offspring comes from a truly unlikely source. Leading automotive industry publication Automotive News Europe has produced an on-line handbook for the Frankfurt Motor Show which opens this week, and inside, there's a picture and details of the new Maserati SUV concept.

The Automotive news rundown indicates that the Maserati"concept" is expected to go on sale in 2013, and will be built on a Chrysler production line alongside the Grand Cherokee in Detroit.

The new Maserati is no doubt hoped to emulate the success of Porsche's upmarket Cayenne SUV and is likely to be powered by Maserati's 450 bhp 4.7 litre V8 running through a ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox. For the emission-conscious European public, the Maserati SUV might also be available as a 3.0 litre diesel V6.

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AutomotiveFiatSUVJeepMaseratiFrankfurt Motor Show 2011
7 comments
Mike Hanlon
Mike Hanlon
As a photojournalist, Mike’s work has been published in a dozen languages across 20+ countries. He has edited or managed over 75 different print publications, each with a different target audience: sports, automotive, advertising, marketing, design, ad infinitum. Mike has been working in the internet for more than 25 years and was the veteran of five internet start-ups before founding New Atlas in 2002.

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7 comments
BZD
OMG that is ugly!
I\'m hoping it\'s one of those magazine \"pictures\" and not how the actual thing is gonna look as this is it\'s sort of a Cayenne fitted with a Maserati front.
Anyway afaik the current Grand Cherokee is based upon an M-class Mercedes which make the car not only ugly as hell but also like the automotive equivalent of a questionable cocktail that may taste fine but will cause a hang over.
Reece Agland
At least Cayenne is built in germany, this thing will be built alongside Jeeps/Chrysler\'s in the US with their reputation of being amongst the worst quality vehicles even amongst US makers. Qick sales success with sudden fall off and massive fall in resale price.
Facebook User
PLEASE tell me this is a joke! Based on a P.O.S. Jeep, and they\'ll want $100k+ for it??!! This will severely DEVALUE the Maserati brand when the fools who buy it see it start to fall apart, which it undoubtedly will. What a disaster waiting to happen.
Arthur Dunning III
Probably not, BZD. Maserati hasn\'t confirmed whether this is the actual vehicle or not, so the actual vehicle may be different from the vehicle in the picture.
As for Chrysler vehicles having the worst quality, Mr. Agland, Fiat addressed that particular issue by implementing their World Class Manufacturing System in all of Chrysler\'s plants, including Jefferson North Assembly, where the Jeep Grand Cherokee is built.
Calson
An age old behavior by the very rich has been conspicuous consumption and conspicuous waste. Now we have people who seldom walk and never go off road and probably never encounter snow driving cars that waste fuel like there is an endless supply.
I can see the same type of people who bought 8mpg Hummers and Porsche Cayenne vehicles to drive to the grocery store buying the Chrysler \"Maserati\" SUV\'s.
To say that Fiat has dramatically improved design, engineering, and build control at the Chrysler plants in the past 24 months is to have no conception of manufacturing and plant operations. It took Ford more than 20 years to affect meaningful improvements with its Jaguar manufacturing operations.
OneKrakWhipEng
\"Allpar.com\" has more details. I think quality & performance will be competitive if the cost is kept down but I think these types of vehicles are a waste.
Why can\'t they or anyone build a large, light weight SUV (Less than 4,000 lbs) with a high output Turbo V6 Diesel AND sell it in the US! Maybe a flat 4 turbo diesel in the rear and 2 electric hub motors up front? Nobody wants to Pioneer a market but I guess you can\'t when the people making decisions can only see as far their next bonus.
Ricard999
Jeep Cherokee is the best American made auto in the world. Maserati/Ferrari is the finest racing car manufacturer in the world. I love my problem free sh*t kicking hemi Cherokee and I love Ferrari F1. To all you nay Sayers, if you dont think this winning dna is good enough, I tell you what, let\'s settle this at the lights, because if you hate the front end just wait till you get a load of the tail lights dissappering into the dust cloud you\'ll shortly be driving through.