Maserati Levante SUV – 525bhp & Made in Italy

The Maserati Levante SUV (previewed by the Maserati Kubang) will arrive in 2015, get a choice of engines including a 525bhp V8 and be built in Italy.

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Maserati are two thirds of the way through their new model offensive, designed to deliver sales of 50,000 cars a year, with the launch of the new Quattroporte and the smaller Ghibli. And next up is the Maserati Levante, a Porsche Cayenne/BMW X5 competitor due to arrive in 2014.

The Maserati Levante – the production version of the Kubang Concept SUV – is based on the new Jeep Grand Cherokee and it was planned to be built in the US alongside the Jeep, but demand for the new Grand Cherokee means Maserati will be building the Levante in Italy instead. Which will probably do its credentials no harm at all.

Nor will its engine offerings, which will include the new 3.0 litre twin-turbo V6 from the Ghibli with around 400bhp, the new diesel engine from the Ghibli (and perhaps Fiat’s new V8 diesel when that arrives) and the thumping twin-turbo V8 from the Quattroporte with a round 525bhp.

It’s a promising offering from Maserati – even if purists will decry the loss of core values in pursuit of sales – and should make an interesting alternative to the sporty SUV offerings from Porsche, BMW and Mercedes, although the Levante is unlikely to have the off-road prowess of the new Range Rover Sport.

We’re expecting the Maserati Levante to turn up at the Paris Motor Show in 2014 in production guise – before going on sale in early 2015 – although we could see the ‘Concept’ Levante at Geneva next Spring.