Maserati Kubang being retired from view
The Maserati Kubang is the concept for an SUV that’s been doing the motor show rounds since it arrived at Frankfurt last year.
Currently on show in Beijing, it appears that the trip to China will be the last outing for the Kubang as a concept as Maserati are getting ready to show a production version – but not just yet.
The consensus seems to be that Maserati will launch a production version of the Kubang at Detroit 2014, but that seems along way off to us.
The underpinnings of the SUV – which we still expect to be the Maserati Cinqueporte and not Kubang – are pure Jeep Grand Cherokee even if engines, transmissions and suspension are going to have some Maserati fairy dust sprinkled on them.
That should mean a Maserati SUV with a properly individual feel and a delightfully sonorous engine note. Not enough to appease Maserati anoraks, no doubt, but enough to set the Cinqueporte apart from its North American cousin.
So with the underpinnings sorted and much of the design work done, we can’t see it taking another two years for the Maserati SUV to make a motor show appearance in production guise, and probably three years before it goes on sale.
We wouldn’t be surprised to see the Maserati Cinqueporte arrive at the Geneva Motor Show next year before going on sale in Europe and the US before the end of 2013.
Maserati Kubang SUV Photos
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