Maserati to Lead FCA's Push For Electric Vehicles :Comments

[William Maley]

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' CEO Sergio Marchionne made a surprise announcement during the company's second-quarter earnings calls last week. The company is planning to have more than half of its lineup to have electrified powertrains by 2022. Leading the charge will be Maserati which will offer some sort of electrified powertrain (hybrid and electric-only).

What caused Marchionne, a person who hasn't been a fan of electric vehicles for quite a while, to change his tune? A lot of it has to do the various emission scandals on diesel vehicles.

"What has really made the issue absolutely mandatory now is the fate of diesel … especially in Europe. Some type of electrification on gas engines is inevitable," said Marchionne.

Also, the announcement of some European countries announcing bans of gas and diesel vehicles in the coming years caused a change of heart for FCA.

“We [FCA] have been reluctant to embrace that avenue until we saw clearer the path forward," said Marchionne.

There are issues for FCA's electrified future as the variable production costs for various components (batteries, electric motors, etc) will not come down quickly. To shoulder these costs, Maserati will take the lead on this initiative.

"When it completes the development of its next two models, it will effectively switch all of its portfolio to electrification," said Marchionne.

"It's an integral part of the development of all of the group." 

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Autocar

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[G. David Felt]

Idiot,  You could see the writing on the wall long ago and should have had a plan by now for this not waiting to the last minute. This also tells me he will continue to ignore the american brands as long as he can steal all the profits with outdated products.

[Robert Hall]

Sounds like a lot of talk...blah blah blah EV blah blah blah 2022 blah blah..

[balthazar]

  On 7/31/2017 at 6:45 PM, dfelt said:

....should have had a plan by now for this not waiting to the last minute.

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Waiting until the last minute would be making this announcement when EV sales were 50% of the market.

[FAPTurbo]

only a dozen people in north america know of the maserati brand and they'd all buy tesla's anyways.

so i guess sergio wants to lose money on an electrified vehicle again?

[oldshurst442]

I have my own stories about FCA...

It starts like this

 

In the year 2021...it is Judgement Day for FCA...blah blah blah...bankrupt....blah blah blah...Jeep sold to the highest bidder....blah blah blah...its a bloody shame...many storied names gone because of one carpet bagging, snake oil salesman buffoon...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 7/31/2017 at 8:05 PM, FAPTurbo said:

only a dozen people in north america know of the maserati brand and they'd all buy tesla's anyways.

so i guess sergio wants to lose money on an electrified vehicle again?

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Indeed!

  On 7/31/2017 at 8:11 PM, oldshurst442 said:

I have my own stories about FCA...

It starts like this

 

In the year 2021...it is Judgement Day for FCA...blah blah blah...bankrupt....blah blah blah...Jeep sold to the highest bidder....blah blah blah...its a bloody shame...many storied names gone because of one carpet bagging, snake oil salesman buffoon...

 

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Seems to be a common narrative around here...

[balthazar]

Those dozen folk who know about Maserati must all be in NJ, I've seen 5 Masers in the last 3 weeks.

[Robert Hall]

I wouldn't say they were common, but I saw Masers fairly frequently around the Phoenix area, esp. in Scottsdale. Usually QPs or GTs...

[smk4565]

They didn't do electric vehicles before for the same reason they haven't updated the 300 and Charger or brought out a capable mid size sedan, they have no money.  

Maserati sells no cars now making them electric will not get them anything.  Why don't they do an electric Jeep Wrangler, something that people buy and could benefit from low end torque.

[balthazar]

• Charger just got a MCE 2 years ago.

• Charger is outselling the C-class year to date, must be the better car.

[smk4565]

Charger sells like 50% fleet.  

[A Horse With No Name]

Damn...saw a Hellcat Charger and a sweet C class Benz...both awesome cars...and all you guys can do is beat each other up over sales figures?

You sound like a couple of geriatric bankers who drive clapped out W body Impalas for fun...

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 7/31/2017 at 9:09 PM, smk4565 said:

They didn't do electric vehicles before for the same reason they haven't updated the 300 and Charger or brought out a capable mid size sedan, they have no money.  

Maserati sells no cars now making them electric will not get them anything.  Why don't they do an electric Jeep Wrangler, something that people buy and could benefit from low end torque.

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Probably because the return on investment would not be there. Most Wrangler buyers are very traditional in what they want.

  On 7/31/2017 at 8:54 PM, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

I wouldn't say they were common, but I saw Masers fairly frequently around the Phoenix area, esp. in Scottsdale. Usually QPs or GTs...

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I see them more often in Columbus than vintage American Iron.

[smk4565]

I think there are a lot of young people that buy Wranglers though, and you'll have more success selling EV's to millennial than "old school" buyers that want a full size sedan with a V8.  I could see electric Renegade, Compass, Wrangler type vehicles doing well.  Small to mid-size SUVs.  They will sell a crap ton more of those than EV Quattroporte's and Ghibli's, no one buys those cars now.  Not sure why Maserati is still around, other than Sergio loves them since they have a Ferrari derived V6, but they don't even own Ferrari anymore.

[balthazar]

Personally I don't care about sales figures at the luxury level- building 3 million 'luxury' vehicles (including cargo vans & cheap FWD appliances & soon: rebadged 3rd tier pick-ups) is the antithesis of exclusivity, a cornerstone of luxury. I talk numbers because that's one of the few ways one can communicate with smk, and they help point out some of his lunacy. [Watch this:]

  Quote

Small to mid-size [EV] SUVs.

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Yeah! That's a great idea! Something like the Kia Soul- that's very successful; YtD sales are 53K! If only they offered an EV variant— wait... THEY DO! Wow- so cool, bet it sells in HUGE numbers! [looks it up...] oh. nevermind. YtD sales: 836.

Maybe it's simply that people who prefer EV-powered vehicles have no stuff.

[smk4565]

  On 8/1/2017 at 2:13 AM, balthazar said:

Personally I don't care about sales figures at the luxury level- building 3 million 'luxury' vehicles (including cargo vans & cheap FWD appliances & soon: rebadged 3rd tier pick-ups) is the antithesis of exclusivity, a cornerstone of luxury. I talk numbers because that's one of the few ways one can communicate with smk, and they help point out some of his lunacy. [Watch this:]

 

 

Yeah! That's a great idea! Something like the Kia Soul- that's very successful; YtD sales are 53K! If only they offered an EV variant— wait... THEY DO! Wow- so cool, bet it sells in HUGE numbers! [looks it up...] oh. nevermind. YtD sales: 836.

Maybe it's simply that people who prefer EV-powered vehicles have no stuff.

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So you think an Electric Jeep is a bad idea but love the Bolt and I assume think the Buick SUV  Bolt will be a hit?   

The first brand FCA should look at for EV's is Jeep.  Jeep is their best brand image name plate and their most profitable.  It is also global and has volume.  Spending a couple billion to make EV Maseratis with no sales is asinine. 

[balthazar]

  On 7/31/2017 at 11:35 PM, smk4565 said:

Charger sells like 50% fleet.  

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There are 54,000 taxis in Germany and 60% of them are Mercedes. That's 32,000 MB taxis. I don't know what sort of fleet percentage that works out to, but it certainly doesn't sound admirable.

- - - - -

Saw another interesting stat- German EV market share in 2016 was one-tenth of one percent. German is WAY behind the US in EV penetration!

  On 8/1/2017 at 2:30 AM, smk4565 said:

So you think an Electric Jeep is a bad idea but love the Bolt and I assume think the Buick SUV  Bolt will be a hit?   

The first brand FCA should look at for EV's is Jeep.  Jeep is their best brand image name plate and their most profitable.  It is also global and has volume.  Spending a couple billion to make EV Maseratis with no sales is asinine. 

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I've consistently stated that EV sales potential are being TREMENDOUSLY overrated, no matter what the vehicle is, and that it will take decades to achieve meaningful market penetration. Jeep, Maserati, Buick or Mercedes, it doesn't matter. Tesla sold 46K last year, that's a record, but it's still only a drop in the bucket. EV sales will rise, I've acknowledged that, but it will take YEARS. That's my take in a nutshell.

Most people seem to think EVs will be at 50% of vehicles sold in like 5 years.

I actually agree with you RE Maserati- that type/brand of car is supposed to be about a visceral, growling V8, not a faint electric hum & a whiff of sulfur. Going all EV not only would likely KILL sales via acceptance in the market, but via acceptance to Maserati's customer base. It's suicidal.

Jeep has the room for a few EV models, but I hope they don't make a stupid announcement "we're going all EV in 5 years!". Every marketer working for an OEM seems to have some sort of brain fever.

Edited August 1, 2017 by balthazar

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 8/1/2017 at 2:13 AM, balthazar said:

Personally I don't care about sales figures at the luxury level- building 3 million 'luxury' vehicles (including cargo vans & cheap FWD appliances & soon: rebadged 3rd tier pick-ups) is the antithesis of exclusivity, a cornerstone of luxury. I talk numbers because that's one of the few ways one can communicate with smk, and they help point out some of his lunacy. [Watch this:]

 

 

Yeah! That's a great idea! Something like the Kia Soul- that's very successful; YtD sales are 53K! If only they offered an EV variant— wait... THEY DO! Wow- so cool, bet it sells in HUGE numbers! [looks it up...] oh. nevermind. YtD sales: 836.

Maybe it's simply that people who prefer EV-powered vehicles have no stuff.

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Or maybe rodents are just into internal combustion!

  On 7/31/2017 at 8:48 PM, balthazar said:

Those dozen folk who know about Maserati must all be in NJ, I've seen 5 Masers in the last 3 weeks.

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I saw five in one day last Saturday here in Columbus!

[G. David Felt]

  On 8/1/2017 at 3:05 AM, A Horse With No Name said:

Or maybe rodents are just into internal combustion!

I saw five in one day last Saturday here in Columbus!

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 Most Rodents do not know they stink and need to clean up their act much like FCA.  

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 8/1/2017 at 12:50 PM, dfelt said:

 Most Rodents do not know they stink and need to clean up their act much like FCA.  

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Rodents at least ahve the potential to evolve into a higher life form given a few million years...FCA is pretty much irreparable.

[oldshurst442]

  On 7/31/2017 at 8:48 PM, balthazar said:

Those dozen folk who know about Maserati must all be in NJ, I've seen 5 Masers in the last 3 weeks.

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Hmmmm....New Jersey...

 

 

 

 

I could see why a strong contingent  of Maserati owners are in Jersey...

 

[G. David Felt]

 Too funny to bing Jersey and see all the funny stuff there!  

[riviera74]

While it is true that you might find a Maserati in North Jersey or Beverly Hills/Bel Air, an all-electric Maserati is rather pathetic (unless it is one model!).  Now, if FCA were smart, they would build one all electric model for each of their brands, starting with Chrysler/Dodge.  As for Jeep, perhaps a Grand Cherokee EV might work.

[FAPTurbo]

this pretty much says fca isn't serious on electrics - say they'll do it and then give it to a pretty unknown brand so once it gets cancelled, everyone will have forgotten and shrug. 

but then fca isn't a serious car company anyways. 

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 8/1/2017 at 4:46 PM, FAPTurbo said:

this pretty much says fca isn't serious on electrics - say they'll do it and then give it to a pretty unknown brand so once it gets cancelled, everyone will have forgotten and shrug. 

but then fca isn't a serious car company anyways. 

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Quoted for truth!

[balthazar]

  On 8/1/2017 at 4:46 PM, FAPTurbo said:

...give it to a pretty unknown brand...

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I dunno- Maser sold a record 36,500 units in 2014, which was a 600% increase over 2 years earlier. I think it's 'known'.

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 8/1/2017 at 5:57 PM, balthazar said:

I dunno- Maser sold a record 36,500 units in 2014, which was a 600% increase over 2 years earlier. I think it's 'known'.

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Thanks...did not know their sales were anywhere near that high...

[riviera74]

  On 8/1/2017 at 5:59 PM, A Horse With No Name said:

Thanks...did not know their sales were anywhere near that high...

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how is Maserati selling now?

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 8/2/2017 at 12:25 AM, riviera74 said:

how is Maserati selling now?

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Through dealership's...

[riviera74]

  On 8/2/2017 at 12:54 AM, A Horse With No Name said:

Through dealership's...

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Sorry.  How MANY Maseratis are selling now (2017)?

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 8/2/2017 at 2:52 AM, riviera74 said:

Sorry.  How MANY Maseratis are selling now (2017)?

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Sorry...I was being sarcastic... actually my source says roughly 12000 for 2014 and slightly more now.

Did not make sense for them to sell 36000 in my mind.

[balthazar]

36K was the 2014 global number, according to this source.

[A Horse With No Name]

  On 8/2/2017 at 3:40 AM, balthazar said:

36K was the 2014 global number, according to this source.

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I was looking at US sales, hence the discrepancy.