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Maserati Australia has been forced to take diesel only for its upcoming Levante premium SUV, with the high-performance 320kW twin-turbo V6 petrol flagship denied for our market.
The Levante will join the ever-growing cohort of premium SUV models in January priced from $139,990 plus on-road costs or $159,990 (plus orc) for the Luxury and Sport versions.
All three will utilise a 202kW/600Nm 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 and eight-speed automatic, together claiming a 6.9-second 0-100km/h for the 2205kg high rider. It is some distance off the 5.2sec 0-100km/h claim of the petrol 3.0-litre flagship currently reserved for left-hand-drive markets.
Speaking at the local reveal of the Levante in Sydney, Maserati Australia chief operating officer Glen Sealey claimed that 90 per cent of premium SUV buyers choose diesel and he argued that it was the right pick for its newest model.
“We’ve got our hand up for every variant I can get [and] I’d like to be playing in that other 10 per cent of the market [with a petrol model] … but if I was sitting here and saying we had a petrol and no diesel, I’d be very upset,” he said.
Despite diesel power only, Maserati still claims the Levante mixes the dynamism of a Cayenne with the comfort of a Range Rover Sport.
It points to 50:50 weight distribution, the lowest centre of gravity and slipperiest aerodynamic performance in the class, and an all-wheel-drive system that prioritises torque to the rear wheels and utilises a torque vectoring system as major dynamic strongsuits.
The Levante – which already has a pre-order bank into the hundreds – is also expected to help almost double Maserati sales in Australia from last year’s 519-unit tally to almost 1000 next year when its newest model goes on-sale in this SUV-adoring market.
