Italian luxury sportscar maker Maserati has given fans a first glimpse of the overhauled Ghibli sedan ahead of its official unveiling in the coming days and, if it handles as well as it looks, then the company finally has a serious competitor to the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class on its hands.
When Maserati unveiled the second-generation Quattroporte -- its full-size luxury sports sedan and the Ghibli's big brother -- in 2016 it did so as two distinct cars. One, the GranSport was focused on performance, while the other, the GranLusso -- while no slouch either -- was all about luxury.
The split-personality approach has clearly paid off for the company as it appears it's now adopting the same nomenclature for the Ghibli -- the new model is called the Ghibli GranLusso.
From the outside, it looks leaner and more poised, like it means business. Front and rear bumpers have been heavily redesigned, it has quad tailpipes and the new front and rear lights are reminiscent of those on current-generation Ferraris.
And while Maserati hasn't offered any images of the new cabin, it has confirmed that this new model will be the first ever car with the company's trident badge on its grille to come with any form of autonomous driving tech.
As for what's under the hood, Maserati is expected to limit choice to engines with six cylinders and varying degrees of turbocharging. There's also a good chance that the new twin turbo 2.9 liter, 510hp unit that is making the Alfa Romeo Giulia such a phenomenal car to drive could find its way into the Ghibli, but potentially only the GranSport version.
At the moment, the most potent engine available in the current-generation Ghibli is a 3-liter V6 that outputs 410hp and is good for a 0-100km/h time of 5 seconds and a 177mph (285km/h) top speed. That's some way behind the Alfa. It can cover the 0-100km/h dash in 3.9 seconds and can hit a remarkable 190mph, making it one of the fastest four-door sedans in the world.
It's shaping up to be a very busy period for Maserati. As well as the facelifted Ghibli, the company is gearing up to launch a new version of its GranTurismo sports coupe and a production model based on its show-stopping Alfieri centenary-year concept car.
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