Maserati Levante SUV OFFICIALLY revealed - Italy's Porsche Cayenne arrives

The new Maserati Levante SUV (pictured) is Italy’s answer to the Porsche Cayenne

[nggallery id=2270 template=customlinks]

The new Maserati Levant SUV has been revealed officially following a photo leak, ahead of its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show.

Yesterday we learnt what the new Maserati Levante SUV looks like, thanks to a set of photos published on a Dutch web site.

Now, Maserati has reacted to the leak by delivering official images of the Levante – and a few morsels of detail – although they haven’t officially released interior photos (although there is a leaked interior of the Levante in the gallery), and the details they’ve offered are limited.

Maserati do say the Levante – the company’s first SUV, and aimed at the Porsche Cayenne – will ‘combine outstanding on-road performance with unrivalled handling on low-grip surfaces’. Which you’d hope was a given, especially for a high-riding Maserati with off-road pretensions.

They also confirm the Levante will get clever electronic suspension with adjustable dampers and springs and a Maserati Q4 all-wheel drive system driven through an eight-speed automatic gerabox.

And although Maserati do confirm there will be both petrol and diesel Levants, they don’t go in to detail.

But yesterday’s leak does give us more, with confirmation there will be a Levante 350 with a 3.0 litre V6 petrol good for 0-62mph in 6.3 seconds, and a Levante 430 with the same. more powerful, engine good for 0-62mph in 5.2 seconds.

There will also be a 3.0 litre diesel offered in the Levante Diesel good for 0-62mph in 6.9 seconds. It’s a safe bet the engine choices are pretty much from the Maserati Ghibli, and we can probably look forward to a V8 Levante using the Quattroprte’s V8 and perhaps even a hybrid at some point.

In the looks department, the front is exactly what you’d expect from a Maserati SUV, with a rather incongruous looking grille, sculptured bonnet and familiar Maserati side vents, but the Levante seems to turn in to the Porsche Cayenne when it gets to the back. Still, a premium SUV doesn’t need to be pretty to succeed.

More on the Levante SUV will be revealed in a week’s time when it hits the Geneva Motor Show