√Ferrari-powered Maserati cars nearing end of the line – UPDATE
Maserati has confirmed its V8 era is ending this year, with its final twin-turbo Ferrari-built engines set to power limited-edition Ghibli and Levante models.
UPDATE, 12 May 2023: Italian car-maker Maserati has announced plans for a pair of limited-edition models to commemorate the end of its V8-powered era, ahead of the brand’s switch to electric power.
In a media announcement overnight, Maserati said the limited-run Ghibli 334 Ultima sedan and Levante V8 Ultima SUV are planned for unveiling in July as its final new model launches with V8 power.
As first reported by Drive, the deal for Ferrari to supply V6 and V8 engines to Maserati – which began in the early 2000s – will end in December 2023, within months with the expected end of production for the petrol-powered Ghibli, Levante and Quattroporte sedan.
The final-edition Maserati V8s are due to make their global debut at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK, between 13-16 July.
Our original story continues below. Pictured below: one-off Ghibli, Quattroporte, Levante and GranTurismo ‘Zeda’ V8s with multi-tone paint.
13 March 2023: The era of Maserati luxury cars powered by Ferrari V6 and V8 engines is due to conclude by the end of this year – as the two brands cut their remaining ties and go seperate ways.
Ferrari engines have powered almost all Maserati models sold since the early 2000s – across a range of V6 and V8 designs, and sedan, coupe, convertible and SUV body styles.
When the deal was inked Maserati was a subsidiary of Ferrari – but since 2016 Ferrari has been its own entity, with no connection between the companies apart from the engine deal.
Ferrari has confirmed in its latest investor report this agreement – which has seen it sell more engines to Maserati in the past five years than it has its own cars – will end in December 2023.
Drive understands the end of the Ferrari engine supply deal will coincide with the planned demise of the three affected, remaining Maserati models: the Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans, and Levante SUV.
Exact end of production dates are yet to be locked in, but it is believed the current-generation Ghibli and Quattroporte are due to wrap up by the end of this year, ahead of the Levante next year.
The last batches of the outgoing Maserati models in Australia are likely to arrive about three to six months after production ends in Italy.
As previously reported by Drive, the Ghibli and Quattroporte will be merged into one model by 2025 – about the size of today’s Ghibli, but wearing the Quattroporte badge – while a new Levante is due at a similar time.
Both vehicles are expected to not just ditch Ferrari power, but petrol power completely – and switch to electric power only.
While the December 2023 end of engine production date won’t affect the sedan duo, Maserati is expected to stockpile Ferrari’s V6 and V8 engines this year to fulfil the final months of current Levante production next year.
These three cars use two engines built by Ferrari: a 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 (known as the F160 or F161) designed by Maserati, and a 3.8-litre ‘F154’ twin-turbo V8 designed by Ferrari for its supercars.
MORE: Maserati Ghibli to be axed in 2024, next Quattroporte to shrink
Although the new Quattroporte and Levante are slated to move to electric power from 2025, Maserati says it will continue to sell petrol-powered cars until the end of the decade.
The company’s newest models – the MC20 supercar, Grecale SUV, new GranTurismo coupe and upcoming GranCabrio convertible – use a mix of a new twin-turbo V6 designed by Maserati, and a turbo four-cylinder derived from Alfa Romeo and Jeep vehicles.
Figures published in Ferrari’s annual investor reports show the Italian supercar manufacturer produced approximately 9140 engines for Maserati last year, split across 8020 V6s and 1120 V8s.
This is a significant decrease on the 45,870 produced in 2017, across 43,000 V6s, 340 twin-turbo V8s, and 2530 naturally-aspirated V8s – which (below) powered the last of the previous-generation GranTurismo and GranCabrio until production ended in 2019.
It means Ferrari sold almost as many engines to Maserati in 2022 as it delivered cars to its own customers, at 13,221. In 2017, Ferrari engine sales to Maserati were 450 per cent higher than sales of Ferrari supercars.
Last year V6s and V8s destined for Maserati accounted for about 40 per cent of engines produced by Ferrari per day – while in 2017 this was as high as 84 per cent.
In 2015, Ferrari said its engine deal with Maserati could see it supply “up to 178,000 engines in aggregate through 2020,” and “up to 260,000 engines … through 2023 to cater to Maserati’s planned expanded model range and sales.”
However, the partnership has fallen short of the targets, with about 189,000 engines produced between 2015 and 2022 – 92 per cent of which have been V6s.
Ferrari reports it earned €78.9 million ($AU127 million) in revenue from selling engines to Maserati last year.
Succeeding the Ferrari-designed V8 is Maserati’s in-house 3.0-litre ‘Nettuno’ twin-turbo V6, available with up to 463kW/730Nm in the MC20 supercar, or 390kW/620Nm in the new Grecale SUV.
These outputs compare to a peak of 433kW and 750Nm from the Ferrari twin-turbo V8 in the current Ghibli, Quattroporte and Levante Trofeo.
Maserati’s most powerful vehicle prior to the MC20 was the MC12 supercar of the mid 2000s, which was based on the Ferrari Enzo of the same era, and employed a Ferrari-built 6.0-litre V12 with 463kW and 652Nm.
With the electric era on the horizon, the Ferrari V8 is likely to be remembered as the end of eight-cylinder V8 power for Maserati – and the Nettuno V6 as one of its last six-cylinder engines.
Meanwhile, entry-level versions of the Ferrari 3.0-litre V6 are being replaced by a mild-hybrid 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder engine with up to 243kW, which debuted in base variants of the Ghibli and Levante, but is now available in the Grecale.
This engine is built by Maserati’s current parent company Stellantis, and is used in other vehicles under the car giant’s umbrella – including models from Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Dodge.
Ferrari also designed the 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine used in the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio siblings.
However, there are no known plans to axe the engines in these cars early, as unlike the petrol V6 and V8 engines in Maseratis – which are assembled by Ferrari in Italy – the Alfa Romeo V6 is built in a factory owned by it and Maserati’s parent company, Stellantis.
The post Ferrari-powered Maserati cars nearing end of the line – UPDATE appeared first on Drive.
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