Poseidon's Porsche

Maserati, currently on their 347th comeback, have a new SUV, the Grecale. We know it is good. But is it Porsche Macan good?

- Chris Chilton

MASERATI WANT TO BE ITALY'S Porsche and, judging by rumours of a potential stock market listing, so does the parent company, Stellantis. Unfortunately, Maserati are more like Italy's Jaguar, another brand with a history we would probably call rich and colourful if many of the best bits had not occurred so long ago; they only happened in black and white.

However, the winds could be changing for the brand whose naming department has always loved a good breeze. The firm's MC20 supercar has been a critical hit, boosting the brand's credibility, especially among younger buyers, and the new Gran Turismo's choice of Folgore electric and traditional combustion power options gives it a USP among GT cars. But Maserati really need a volume player, particularly since the slowselling Ghibli saloon is about to check out. And you cannot get much more "volume" in the premium sector than a medium-sized SUV.

Maserati are betting big on the Grecale you see in the pictures here, a car with some respectable DNA we will explain in a minute and one aimed directly at Porsche's most popular car, the Macan SUV. Porsche sold 86,724 examples of their smallest SUV in 2022, almost four times Maserati's entire output for the year, so the opportunities are huge.

Like the Macan, the Grecale is available with various chilli counts. Horsepower junkies with pockets so deep they can scratch their knees without taking their hands out will go for the £99,700 (Rs 1 crore) Trofeo, a twinturbo V6 weapon with 530 hp that can storm from naught to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds. But most buyers will be downsizing to the tune of at least two cylinders and 200 horses and, with only four cylinders, that tune is not going to be anywhere near as musical, sadly.