Maserati Ghibli to be discontinued in 2024, Quattroporte to become smaller

Italian luxury car brand Maserati is all set to pull the plug on Ghibli in 2024, claims a report by Drive. Maserati's Australia general manager Grant Barling has said to the publication that the smaller luxury sedan will move into the run-out phase in 2024. Interestingly, when Maserati announced the Folgore electrification strategy earlier this year, it didn't mention the Ghibli at all. This resulted in wide speculation about the small sedan being axed sooner or later.

Besides axing the Maserati Ghibli, the automaker is also revising the Quattroporte. The Maserati Quattroporte would become smaller compared to the outgoing version. The Quattroporte has already been confirmed for a pure electric iteration. This comes defying the industry trend as; usually, the cars get bigger and bigger with every new generation model.

The new Quattroporte is slated to become the same size as the outgoing Ghibli, said Barling. He also said that the long-term plan of the automaker is to replace Ghibli with the Quattroporte. "The plan is for the Ghibli and Quattroporte to become one. So the Quattroporte will become a short-wheelbase – Ghibli-sized but called a Quattroporte. To be honest, that segment has come down quite a bit," he added.

Maserati Ghibli is one of the oldest cars in the premium category. Currently, in its third generation, the outgoing Maserati Ghibli has been in business since 2013. With the increasing focus on SUVs and crossovers, Maserati seems to be streamlining its product strategy in favour of those. The axing of Ghibli and revision of Quattroporte size are just part of that more extensive strategy. Another reason behind this decision is the falling sales of the sedans as more and more customers are shifting toward high-riding products like Levante.

Another news coming from the Modena-based automaker is that it will ditch the 3.8-litre twin-turbo engine sourced from Ferrari that has been used in the Trofeo-spec Ghibli, Quattroporte and Levante. Maserati currently has its very own 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 engine called Nettuno. Hence, axing the Ferrari engine seems justified.