Maserati, the exotic Italian car manufacturer, has ambitious plans for the future, which may well entail linking up with its fellow countryman Alfa Romeo in the U.S. to boost sports car sales there.



Maserati, owned by Italian mass car maker Fiat which itself recently emerged from a messy divorce from General Motors Corp., is lucky to be alive.



It has been a serial loss maker and last year notched up its 17th year in a row of red ink. That is set to end in 2007.



"Maserati will finally return to profitability in 2007, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne told financial analysts after announcing its results for 2006.



But having come to grips with its financial problems, there is another potentially disastrous dark cloud building on the horizon for Maserati and its fellow supercar manufacturers -- new European rules forcing improved fuel economy to curb carbon dioxide emissions said to contribute to climate change, could torpedo balance sheets.



Meanwhile Maserati is improving its finances, steadily cutting trading losses from $230 million in 2004 to $116 million a year later and $45 million in 2006.



Maserati is also plotting a dramatic increase in global sales, which are set to more than double by 2011 to around 12,000 Quattroportes, GranTurismos and GranSports if you believe Maserati, or at least rise quite sharply from last year's 5,500 to 8,000 by 2013, according to automotive consultants CSM Worldwide. This is a healthy increase on sales of less than 1,000 in the 1990s.



Getting on for half of Maserati sales will be in the U.S., according to CSM Worldwide's British-based Europe Sales Forecast Manager Walt Madeira.



Jerky, harsh



A major contributor any sales increase will be the Maserati Quattroporte Automatic, now on sale in the U.S. The Quattroporte -- forget any romantic or classic allusions, quattroporte just means 4-doors -- has been available with a "DuoSelect" semi-automatic gearbox, but sales were handicapped by the gearbox's jerky, harsh performance which belied the car's luxurious cruiser image. Maserati, after all, is hoping to persuade potential buyers of the Mercedes S class, BMW 7-series and Audi A8 to take a chance with them.



Maserati has now equipped this car with a conventional six-speed automatic gearbox and finally should be able to capitalise on its fabulous good looks, its magnificent road ability, and its gorgeous, sumptuous interior. The car is powered by a 4.2 litre 400 bhp V8 engine, which howls beautifully and performs manfully.



The new six-speed auto box is from Germany's ZF, and is also used by BMW, Mercedes and Jaguar.



"I see them (Maserati) steadily building on the customer base and reviving the brand image. Maserati is targeting this luxurious image and customers are responding," said Madeira.



Maserati dealers in the U.S. are expected to begin selling Alfa Romeos in a couple of years.



Alfa Romeo, also owned by Fiat, withdrew from the U.S. market in 1995, and seems to have been gearing up for a return ever since. The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, a limited edition sports car which was shown as a concept at the Paris Car Show in 2006, is likely to be the scout at the head of the column, perhaps in 2008. This $200,000 supercar has a 450 bhp 4.7 litre V-8 engine and rear wheel drive.



Alfa 159 and Brera



"Maserati dealers in the U.S. would welcome the idea and it would make sense for Alfa. We forecast them entering the U.S. in 2009, after the Competizione has tested the waters. This makes sense because I can't see new dealers wanting to sell just Alfas, and we expect sales of about 8,000 by 2015, mainly of the 159 (sedan) and Brera (coupe)," said Madeira.



All these carefully laid plans for Maserati's expansion may be seriously damaged if European Union (E.U.) politicians decree rules on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions which are unforgiving on upmarket gas guzzlers like the Quattroporte and its ilk.



The E.U. and the European Car Manufacturers Association have a voluntary agreement to limit the average output of cars to 140 grammes per kilometre (g/km) by 2008, the equivalent of about 39 miles per U.S. gallon. The EU has now decided that this will be cut to 130 g/km by 2012. When you consider that the Quattroporte only manages 16 miles per U.S. gallon, equivalent to 345 g/km, you can see the scale of potential problem.



Unlike the Mercedes, BMW and Audi competition, Maserati has no fuel sipping diesel engines, or hybrid plans. The Germans are expected to join Japan's Lexus soon by providing petrol/electric hybrid engines in their top-of-the-range cars.



But the E.U has so far not announced how new consumption standards will be enforced. It may allow manufacturers to average fuel consumption across all of the brands, in which case Maserati's handful of fuel munchers could be added to Fiat's millions of fuel-sipping mini cars.



Extreme environmentalists



If the E.U decides on an aggressive stance, it might impose taxes on inefficient cars, which would be paid either by the manufacturer or the buyer. Some extreme environmentalists have demanded that cars which can't achieve a minimum fuel economy should just be banned, period, but that seems unlikely for now.



John Wormald, analyst with British automotive consultancy Autopolis, reckons that even an extra tax on upmarket luxury cars wouldn't pose a problem, but other measures might.



"It depends on how this is handled. If you add a whacking amount of tax, then the people buying cars like these will pay up quite cheerfully. But if European governments introduce a personal CO2 allowance that would be much more dangerous if you have to choose between your Maserati and turning on the central heating," Wormald said.



Some members of Britain's opposition Conservative Party have suggested citizens be allowed an annual ration of CO2 for things like flights, car journeys and home heating.



"There is a danger that public opinion will start to frown on gas guzzlers but the people buying them are not likely to be swayed by that. What is dangerous in the longer term is a possible ban on the use of gas guzzlers on public roads. You could only drive them on special race tracks. Promoting super cars when there's a lot of concern about global warming may be an uphill struggle," he said.



CSM Worldwide's Madeira is more sanguine about the threat from CO2 legislation, saying that the worst case scenario is a tax on the really egregious offenders.



"That tax would be passed on the buyer. People wanting high performance cars like this will just go ahead and pay up," Madeira said.

Maseratis have always been cheaper than people tend to think. When Maserati conducted a research they found out that people thought that Maserati cars were at the price level of a Aston Martin DB9 or a Bentley Continental GT rather than a Jaguar. And while that may be a compliment, people who could afford them were crossing Maseratis off the list thinking they coudn’t. Well now that they know, Maserati has unleashed its new Granturismo that is ready to take on the Jaguar XKR. And at £70k ($95,000) Maserati sits up strong against the Jaguar XKR.



Under the hood the Maserati Granturismo has a 4.2 liter V8 engine that delivers 405 horsepower giving it the ability to do 0-60 mph in 5.2 seconds with a top speed of 180 mph. And while that may be slighty less than the Jaguar XKR’s 4.2 liter V8 engine that produces 420 horsepower, who would want a Ford made Jaguar over a Italian Maserati? Plus, with the weight distribution of 49 in the front and 51 in the back, handing is right up to par topped off with big six-piston Brembo brakes.



Just look at it for a second. No really, take a very close look at every angle of the car, the more you look at it the more you see. As the man responsible for the design of the Maserati Granturismo would say “Today, many cars do one thing well. They are either straight and geometric, or sculptural and volumptuous. This car is both.” Guglielmo Caria, chief designer at Pininfarina, who is responsible for the Ferrari 599, faced many challenges making the big Granturismo look sleeker and smaller than it really is. However, looks can be deciving. While most 4-seater coupes have a cramped back seat which is usually used for a shelf rather than seats, the large Maserati Granturismo rear seat provide enough room for a 6-foot man to sit comfortably.



So if you are looking to spend $95k on you’re next car, hold off until the Maserati Granturismo hits dealerships this June.

Maserati is about to release its replacement for the aging GT Coupe but it knows that to reach its ambitious sales target of 12,000 cars by 2011, it will need several new models. The Italian carmaker is looking at three possible new models, the first of which is a high-end SUV based on its Kubang concept displayed back in 2003. Another option would be to build a smaller mid-sized saloon based on the next-generation 169 sedan from Alfa Romeo.



Maserati is actively considering both cars, but according to Autocar, the option most favored by Maserati bosses is a smaller entry level coupe positioned below the upcoming GranTurismo. To save costs, the small two-seater could be built off a shortened version of the Quattroporte platform, a move that would enable the new model to be priced below the £50,000 mark.



Insiders suggest that, if given the green-light, the new coupe would likely receive a revised version of Maserati’s 4.2L V8, detuned to around 350bhp and mated to a semi-automatic gearbox with paddle-shifters. With the GranTurismo growing in size to rival mega-coupes like the Mercedes CL, there’s definitely a gap in Maserati’s lineup for a new smaller model.