Standing in the stage wings the Maserati SUV is ready and waiting to enter center stage at the Geneva International Motor Show, which is only a few short days away. The vehicle which has been named the Levante, has come about in the recent trend by top luxury automakers to produce SUV’s for their high end clientele.
Since Lexus produced the RX and Porsche the Cayenne, a number of other luxury automakers have jumped on to the proverbial “bandwagon” to follow up with their own versions of a luxury SUV. Both Lexus and Porsche received great applause and success over these vehicles that instead of compromising the high-end luxury status of those brands, if anything possibly enhanced their appeal, by offering greater variety to their fleet of vehicles.
Since then Bentley has gifted to the world their prestigious Bentayga, that they claim is the most expensive and the fastest four wheel drive vehicle. Indeed, with a price tag of $266,000 that may well be the case, but with a 0 to 100 km/h acceleration time of 4.1 seconds it is fast, but not the fastest. The Bentayga is side swiped by another recent addition to the SUV category, the Tesla Model X which races to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds and will cost about half of the Bentayga at $130,000.
According to the Maserati press release statement, the brand intends to retain all its signature features in the Levante including the aggressive front fascia, tapered headlights and the triple air vents on the front wings. However, they are keeping quiet about the SUV only revealing that it will be an 8-speed automatic transmission available in either a gas or diesel engine in the US and a plug-in hybrid option will be available in Europe within the next two years. Maserati also advised that the first models have already rolled off the assembly line with an official launch planned for the spring.
