What’s the story, Maserati Quattroporte? Super saloon could get hybrid power

Conversations about the next-generation Maserati Quattroporte are ongoing, with no defined platform or powertrain strategy, and no confirmed pathway for the future flagship saloon car.

Previously thought to be an electric-only four-door, parent company Stellantis’s decision to double down on hybrids could influence powertrain choice for the future saloon car – which is set not only to replace the outgoing Quattroporte, but also the smaller Ghibli.

This two-models-into-one strategy was confirmed by a Maserati spokesperson, but little else about the project has apparently been defined. Head of Maserati North Europe, Mariangela Del Vecchio, said: “All of the product development in terms of engine and powertrain is still very much work in progress. I think the current climate, the position of the brand with the current product line-up is to do full electric and petrol – and offer the consumer the choice.

“We have mild-hybrid in the Grecale. What we don’t have is a plug-in hybrid because the company direction was very clear – we’ll just go full-electric, rather than have that interim period. Future development could be open – particularly with Levante and Quattroporte. It’s still all under review, and it’s all driven by the consumer.”

Earlier this year, Stellantis’s European boss Jean-Philippe Imparato told us he wants to boost the business’s hybrid offering – possibly hinting at a mild or plug-in powertrain for the next-generation Quattroporte. 

Del Vecchio confirmed it’s technically feasible, despite the fact it’s not yet clear what platform the car will sit on. “I know with quite a few of the competitors, they've gone down a slightly different strategy in terms of having fully developed, electric-only product lines,” she told us. “The strategy for Maserati clearly wasn't that; it was to create the one product and then offer the choice of powertrains.”

Regardless, Maserati will be without a four-door saloon until 2028 at the earliest. Last year, Davide Danesin, the company’s chief engineer for the Quattroporte development programme told us: “Putting together all this stuff, we decided that we were gaining some more time to optimise the package and this is why we decided to postpone [Quattroporte].”

He added: “Sometimes you need to take your time to have the proper solution. If you're confident enough as a company and already have great products, if you’re not fully convinced of the result, why not take another look?”

While little is known about any future hybrid Quattroporte, Danesin hinted that the EV would be targeting a range of more than 400 miles. “These days, 600 kilometres [373 miles] is good enough,” he said. “Maybe for a new Quattroporte, we would like more.

“The Quattroporte is an important product for Maserati, so it must have an outstanding design from any perspective: style, architecture and performance.”

At the time, Danesin revealed that Maserati has “not yet decided” what architecture the Quattroporte will use. It was long believed that the new STLA Large platform from parent company Stellantis would serve as the underpinnings, as it can supposedly deliver range figures of up to 500 miles and two-second 0-62mph times for high-performance models.

However, he identified some areas where this layout doesn’t quite suit the Quattroporte. “Performance is by definition important to us,” Danesin explained. “I think two areas of improvement in the future are weight, because electric cars are becoming heavier and heavier, and we need to stop that tendency. The other point is about installing the latest battery technology to provide the range.”

Danesin added “I’m not saying it’s not [STLA Large]. I think the optimisation we’re looking for may lead to some optimisation for what is already available.”

An unlikely but potential alternative to STLA Large is Maserati stretching the platform used by the new two-door GranTurismo and GranCabrio to accommodate a four-door Quattroporte saloon. The pure-electric ‘Folgore’ versions of both cars already use this platform, and features an 800-volt electrical architecture for ultra-rapid charging speeds and a tri-motor set-up that the company claims is capable of producing nearly 1,200bhp.

Using this platform would also enable the Quattroporte EV to use Maserati’s unique T-shaped battery design that runs underneath the centre console and what would be a transmission tunnel, rather than entirely under the floor. This allows the cars to sit lower to the ground and improve agility.

Danesin told Auto Express that Maserati is already looking into new battery technology for use in the electric GranTurismo and GranCabrio to boost range and unlock more performance than the current powerpack allows for. Therefore, the Quattroporte could benefit from the same advancements.

Maserati’s head of design, Klaus Busse, stayed tight-lipped when asked about the new Quattroporte. However, he’s said that he doesn’t want the brand’s EVs to be “faceless cars”. Busse told us: “We have 110 years of history and there's a lot of great companies coming up, but they don’t have this history. So why wouldn't we use all these beautiful traditions that we have?” 

As our exclusive image shows, the all-electric Quattroporte shouldn’t have a complete blanked-off panel on its nose. Instead, the iconic Maserati trident will sit in the centre of an ‘inverted grille’ with open slats able to provide some cooling for the motors and batteries.

Maserati’s all-electric and luxurious future

Maserati has previously committed to having an electric-only line-up by 2028, with the brand’s former CEO Davide Grasso stating “the future of mobility is definitely electric”. Although it’s unclear at this stage whether recently-instated boss Santo Ficili will change tack, or if that plan will be pushed back due to weakening global EV demand. Plans for an MC20 Folgore have been “discontinued” for example – meaning the company will not, at least for now, build an electric version of its butterfly-winged supercar.

The Italian manufacturer is on a push to be parent company Stellantis’s luxury brand. As Bernard Loire, Maserati’s chief commercial officer, explained to Auto Express back in autumn 2023: “Maserati is not aiming to be a volume brand. It's aiming to provide exceptional cars with a very high level of quality and also making profit for the company, which has not always been the case. 

“To do so, you don't need to talk to everyone, but you need to be a bit different. And you will see the Quattroporte, which will be a full electric car only, it's not going to look like an electric car at all – that's the route that we are choosing.”

Loire also confirmed that the rest of the Maserati range will follow the Quattroporte in moving more upmarket. “There will be a move up,” he said. “Today we have the lower entry point to the brand and we will move slowly up by the launches of new products.

“We started already with MC20 and GranTurismo because those cars are quite high price, of course, and they are quite unique. Grecale is very good at getting new customers to the brand. Electrification is also an important way to bring new customers to the brand. We need to get the new audience in, but in the future we are very much seeing ourselves moving up to products like Quattroporte, Levante and the sports car. So really getting to the luxury world.

“Of course, Stellantis offers us an opportunity of getting access to technologies and that's extremely important when you know the investments that have to be made on the powertrains, on the batteries, on the software, et cetera,” Loire added. “For us it's a chance to have access to that. And yes, we will try to build our cars on the most common platform taken from Stellantis, but it has to be kept as a Maserati. 

“The way of managing platforms is more flexible than it used to be, so we can use different cars on the same platform. Of course, a Maserati has to always be a Maserati, so focused on the performance, on the driving pleasure, and on the design – there won't be a compromise on that."

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