Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Maserati Kubang is Italian for SUV

"For some reason SUVs today never seem to offer the kind of uplifting driving pleasure and luxury atmosphere that are two givens of today's high-end sports and luxury cars."

So says Maserati, and though we're quite certain rivals like Porsche, BMW and even Maserati's own sister-brand, Jeep, would take offense to the claim, we feel inclined to point out that the very nature of the SUV – higher ground clearance, seating position and the subsequent higher center-of-gravity, to name just one – makes them less suitable for the kind of "driving pleasure" we'd generally associate with Maserati. But we digress.

What we have here is Maserati's take on the premium sport utility vehicle, and the Italian automaker promises it heralds the coming of a new product line. Maserati claims that the Kubang's "style, engine, suspensions, brakes, handling and performance will all be 100% Maserati in picture-perfect continuity with the brand's core values of sportiness, style, elegance, luxury, performance and craftsmanship."

We hope all that is true, and at least the powerplants sound enticing. According to the Italian company, a new generation of proprietary engines are being designed in Modena by Paolo Martinelli, who previously spent 30 years at Ferrari and its Scuderia factory racing team, and they'll be built in Maranello by Ferrari. Expect that engine to be mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

Keen fans of the brand may remember that this isn't the first Kubang seen from Maserati. Way back in 2003 at the Detroit Auto Show, the Trident brand showed off an SUV in conceptual form that shared the same moniker. We think this one looks a fair bit better, though it's still a somewhat oddly shaped little duckling.

Nothing else is yet known about the Kubang, but we'd expect it to borrow liberally from the Jeep parts bin, and there have been many indications that it will likely even roll down the same assembly line in Detroit as the Grand Cherokee.

Gallery:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/maser...photo-4441046/

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/13/m...rankfurt-2011/

UberNoob

WHAT?!?!!
jeep parts bin and being made alongside the grand cherokee???

no way im paying anywhere near $100k for this

Blackraven

Maserati SUV.........made in Detroit. WTF?

As they say, anyone can build a car anywhere..............but if a car is something that should signify passion and tradition, then it has to be from the source.

Hence, why I think that as Maserati that is built alongside most Chrysler garbage (except for the Viper, Grand Cherokee Sport and Town and Country diesel version) and in Detroit will just heavily pollute the brand. This is the dumbing-down of Maserati

<VENOM>

Built on the Jeep Platform, will probably improve Maserati reliability, I still have some friends that work at a BMW, Ferrari and Maserati Dealer, the 2 Italians are anything but reliable, expensive yes, the SUV will most likely bring in new customers not familiar with the brand, probably increase sales.

If Chrysler can build an SRT8 JeepGC, essentially a more expensive Maserati version should not be hard

like the Porsche Cayenne, I see a cheaper version coming

Lil4X

A high-revving little Swiss watch of a powerplant with lots of horsepower but practically no low-end grunt driving through eight speeds in the paddle-shifted cogbox is going to be seriously humbled if it ever ventures much further offroad than Rodeo Drive or South Beach. The target demographic for this "SUV" probably considers offroad to be anywhere the road isn't swept and scrubbed daily. Wonder how long the Maser motor would survive out in the boonies . . . "Kubang" is the sound it's going to make as it encounters the real world out where the pavement ends.

The Maserati's "style, engine, suspensions, brakes, handling and performance will all be 100% Maserati in picture-perfect continuity with the brand's core values of sportiness, style, elegance, luxury, performance and craftsmanship" translates in my part of the world to "all hat and no cattle".

Jherb350

iTrader: (1)

Sad but probably true, and a great way of putting it.

mkorsu

Looks like a Murano with an overbite.

Vladi

Putting it on GC platform is probably the best thing they could have done. Its actually a plus form my point of view. If there was no Jeep within Fiat this thing would not exist or it would have been super crap.

BTW the back is actually pretty reminds me of ZDX.

speedflex

Actually, I was thinking Mazda CX7. Everyone feels the need to do the SUV thing these days but the styling themes that work so great on cars begin to not work so well when the vehicles get bigger and taller.

UberNoob

and not to mention the rear seems to take cues from the new cayenne

eitherway, cayenne is the luxury SUV to get these days
with hybrid S and Turbo at decent prices, there is no sense to get anything else other than Range Rover and Cayenne

vraa

iTrader: (2)

Masers have always been **** cars

I know a guy who'll probably buy three of these, 2 for parts....

Blackraven

I think the debate is whether or not putting Chrysler garbage bin parts on a premium brand like Maserati will do more harm than good.

So far, I believe that this only pollutes the Maserati brand and image...........though I'd like to be proven wrong on this (especially since the Grand Cherokee SRT seems to be a really solid American SUV).

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

Something about this design just says "Hyundai" to me.

I8ABMR

Maserati and Jeep parts made in a Jeep factory????? Recipe for disastrous unreliability

Blackraven

Yeah that was a cause of concern.........because that was exactly what happened to MB during DaimlerChrysler era.