SUV Turn Maserati into the New Porsche

Most Italian sports car lovers believe a Jeep-based Maserati SUV will be a disgrace to the company's history, while pragmatists and analysts alike that it is a possible way to revitalize the brand. And those who remember our recent story concerning the soon to be launched Maserati SUV can strike the word “rumor” from the title.

Sources from within the company confirmed today that the Italian company will indeed launch a Jeep Grand Cherokee-based SUV concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month. What’s more, the same insiders said that the luxury SUV will be manufactured not at Modena, like all other sports cars bearing the trident badge, but at Chrysler’s Jefferson North plant in Detroit.

There’s no doubt that Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is a man with a plan. For Chrysler and Fiat, Marchionne's grand scheme is to merge the two companies, reduce costs, increase profits and challenge the largest automakers in the world like GM, Toyota and VW.

One could say that Marchionne is copying a page (or two) out of Ferdinand Piech's textbook. The platform sharing strategy and especially its implementation was what turned around VW’s fate. And Marchionne seems to be following in the footsteps Dr Piech.

Think of it this way: if not for VW, Porsche would have never been able to develop the Cayenne on its own. That is, it would have never produced the model that earned the company a lot of cash, allowed it to improve its other products and further expand its line-up and today accounts for almost half of its sales. Moreover, the German company is already developing a smaller SUV named Cajun that will be launched in 2013.

Despite what the detractors might say, the luxury SUV market is an expanding and, more importantly, a high-profit niche. That’s why even brands like Bentley are considering entering it. And turning the rather capable, Mercedes ML-based Jeep into a stylish, luxurious and, of course, much more expensive car is not such a bad idea, as long as the end result matches buyers’ expectations.

If it does, it will replicate the Porsche/Cayenne example and provide the company with a high-profit model. Well, in less than a month we will at least get our first taste of what to expect from the Maserati SUV at the Frankfurt Motor Show.