After confirming plans originally made public by research and development boss, Harald Wester, for a new Alfa Romeo model designed to go up against the BMW X5, the hard working Fiat and Chrysler Group boss has let slip on a secret new Maserati conceived to take on the Porsche Cayenne.
Without giving too much away, Marchionne hinted in a conference call with journalists that the new Maserati would share the same Jeep Grand Cherokee sourced platform and four-wheel drive underpinnings as the range topping Alfa Romeo that Wester says will follow a successor to the 159, a smaller and more affordable compact SUV in the spirit of the earlier Kamal concept and a modern day Spider to showrooms in 2013.
Known under the codename GC, the unitary body structure was originally designed for the Mercedes-Benz M-, R- and GL-class back in the days of DaimlerChrysler and is currently used by the Jeep Grand Cherokee and, in a slightly modified form, its more overtly sporting Chrysler Group sibling, the Dodge Durango.
"One of the things we are now looking at in some detail is utilising this architecture and extending its application for future products both within Chrysler and outside Chrysler," said Marchionne. The Fiat boss also conceeded he is looking as using existing Maserati engines in the new model.
Maserati originally flirted with the idea of producing an SUV back in 2003, going as far as to commission ItalDesign to create a concept called the Kubang.
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