[NWbyNW]

A Tale of Two Maserati's
Is the brand meeting the expectations placed upon it?
By NWbyNW



So Maserati's sales are not up this year even with their expanded portfolio of vehicles, including the silent addition of the Levante quickly overshadowed by the Stelvio. Are things really looking good for Maserati?

Of course they shouldn't be mass selling cars, and selling 4,888 Levante's is a good number for 2017. But should it be selling Porsche style numbers or not? The Porsche Cayenne is at about 9,500 vehicles for the year. The Levante is far in last place. No numbers on Bentley's SUV yet I could find.

Then we also got this little thorn in Maserati's side. Maserati will again stop production of ALL vehicles for the rest of the year until January 15th.

Maserati has stopped production twice before this announcement for 2017. This is being blamed on extremely slow sales in China. That is alarming that people are not buying as many as they should... or Maserati isn't making a product that people want... or FCA has way too many people working on Maserati's and should cut back production and focus on other vehicles.

But wait a minute, weren't we told the Levante would boost Maserati sales a lot? Then why are 2017's numbers behind 2016 and 2014? They have sold 12,271 vehicles so far in 2017, and are unlikely to beat the 13,000 high of 2014. What is Maserati missing here and why haven't their sales increased?

Add that to Red Bigland saying there is no rush to add a smaller SUV to Maserati sales and you wonder... is Maserati doing good or underperforming? What are your thoughts?

(If you may have noticed, I like to make my topics like a show piece when you enter, lol. I want people to enjoy and be interested. Thank you for reading.)

 

[T_690]

Maserati already sold more than 8000 Levantes in China for this year.

 

[NWbyNW]

I linked to the source. I was talking about US sales. Only brought up China for the apparent reason for the shut down in manufacturing.

 

[T_690]

I linked to the source. I was talking about US sales.

Maserati is a brand with global line-up so we must take that into account.

If I hate anything on this form that is "America is first" attitude.

 

[NWbyNW]

Maserati is a brand with global line-up so we must take that into account.

If I hate anything on this form that is "America is first" attitude.

Thank you for your input. You can think what you like and I appreciate your response. But I would love even more if we could stick to the question posed.

Is Maserati meeting expectations with the addition of their new vehicle? Is refreshing their models something that should be first on FCA's mind with these sales numbers?

 

[T_690]

Is Maserati meeting expectations with the addition of their new vehicle?

Of-course it is.

Is refreshing their models something that should be first on FCA's mind with these sales numbers?

They make profits with huge margins. IMO, there will add more products in the future. Most likely in the early or at the start of 2020's they will have three Giorgio products which will be expanded to four by mid 2020's. More sharing will result with greater margins which will most likely exceed 20%.

 

[90243]

With Levante in 2016 adjusted EBIT margin for 2016 was 9.7% for the year and 12% for second half (Levante introduced in more countries).
Q3 2017 adjusted EBIT margin was 13.7%.

That values are higher than the combined one shown in FCA presentations for macro regional area.

Why? Because post 2008 crisis the sales of luxury vehicles worldwide reached numbers and revenues higher than pre-crisis.
Mid market went down, "low cost" vehicles sales went up.

 

[valiant67]

If I hate anything on this form that is "America is first" attitude.

1) America is where most FCA profit is made.
2) Historically tHis forum was founded to cover the American brands long before FCA.

 

[90243]

Since in a previous post there was a reference to Porsche, hereafter, from their website, there are 2016 worldwide sales numbers per area / country.

 

[Deckard_Cain]

Thank you for your input. You can think what you like and I appreciate your response. But I would love even more if we could stick to the question posed.

Is Maserati meeting expectations with the addition of their new vehicle? Is refreshing their models something that should be first on FCA's mind with these sales numbers?

Look at Maserati's profit margin. This was a brand that 10 years ago was selling 3000 cars per year.

 

[58148]

Do you wanna know who is Andrea Malan? Where does he come from ? Ex-Sole24Ore.....He has recently joined the Autonews crew (oh well, I wonder why.........). Sole24Ore is the Confindustria Italiana's house organ. FCA was one of its member and the biggest Confindustria's money contributor. It isn't anymore. Need I say more ?

Maserati extends production shutdowns to mid-Jan on slow sales (at http://europe.autonews.com/article/20171219/ANE/171219750/maserati-extends-production-shutdowns-to-mid-jan-on-slow-sales )

According to FIOM estimates, Maserati will produce 43,000 cars this year, a slight increase over 2016. Maserati sales were up 40 percent to 35,500 units in the first 9 months, boosted by demand for the Levante earlier in the year. However, sales in the EU fell 4 percent in October and November, while U.S. volume dropped by 15 percent.

What ?



Maserati Levante Sales Figures - (at http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2016/07/maserati-levante-sales-figures-usa-canada/ )

October
2016 2017
501 493


November
2016 2017
331 483

If you want, I can tell you something about FIOM too.....

In a nutshell, this article is a pile of steaming poopies.....

 

[Muther]

Yes, Maserati is meeting expectations. The model line up, the new model intro's, and the existing model refreshes are all planned for (at least) the next five years (expect a new GTO 2019/2020).

Maser' is exceeding expectations. it is a very margin rich brand. Admittedly, the whole China issue hurt the brand.

 

[pumadog]

Whatever the numbers are, it doesn't make sense to judge the product planning and success of a worldwide brand by US sales only.

 

[valiant67]

Do you wanna know who is Andrea Malan? Where does he come from ? Ex-Sole24Ore.....He has recently joined the Autonews crew (oh well, I wonder why.........). Sole24Ore is the Confindustria Italiana's house organ. FCA was one of its member and the biggest Confindustria's money contributor. It isn't anymore. Need I say more ?

Maserati extends production shutdowns to mid-Jan on slow sales (at http://europe.autonews.com/article/20171219/ANE/171219750/maserati-extends-production-shutdowns-to-mid-jan-on-slow-sales )





View attachment 12043


What ?



Maserati Levante Sales Figures - (at http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2016/07/maserati-levante-sales-figures-usa-canada/ )



If you want, I can tell you something about FIOM too.....

In a nutshell, this article is a pile of steaming poopies.....

In your haste to criticize, you misread what the writer wrote.
He did not say Levante sales were down in the US, he said Maserati sales were down:
"According to FIOM estimates, Maserati will produce 43,000 cars this year, a slight increase over 2016. Maserati sales were up 40 percent to 35,500 units in the first 9 months, boosted by demand for the Levante earlier in the year. However, sales in the EU fell 4 percent in October and November, while U.S. volume dropped by 15 percent."
October/November 2016 Maserati brand US sales: 1304/1380
October/November 2017 Maserati brand US sales: 1140/1141
Notice that is a drop of 15%. The author you just attacked was correct.

 

[58148]

In your haste to criticize, you misread what the writer wrote.
He did not say Levante sales were down in the US, he said Maserati sales were down:
"According to FIOM estimates, Maserati will produce 43,000 cars this year, a slight increase over 2016. Maserati sales were up 40 percent to 35,500 units in the first 9 months, boosted by demand for the Levante earlier in the year. However, sales in the EU fell 4 percent in October and November, while U.S. volume dropped by 15 percent."
October/November 2016 Maserati brand US sales: 1304/1380
October/November 2017 Maserati brand US sales: 1140/1141
Notice that is a drop of 15%. The author you just attacked was correct.

Well, I guess Malan and I are even, but only regarding those numbers....

 

[Dave Z]

FWIW, Maserati is extending their holiday shutdown for “inventory adjustment,” which is to say slower than expected sales.

I am sure they are still profitable but I think the Levante was expected to do much better.

 

[90243]

At least in Europe the market shifts greatly in short period of time, sometimes goes up and sometimes goes down in few months.
What I see, after diesel affair, is that hybrid vehicles in luxury segments went up in sales.
Last example is new Porsche Panamera, 60% of sales are now for the hybrid version.
Many of these vehicles are sold to companies or anyway give an "image" to the person who owns it. So now, more than before diesel affair, being "green" (or pseudo green) is "cool".

 

[Muther]

The writing is on the wall.

Sales have peaked, for cars in general, and indications are that the car industry will be in for a downturn in sales for the next few years. None of my financial friends think it will be a big downturn, but they all agree that folks simply aren’t buying as many cars as they have been (for many, and varied reasons). They think that most, if not all, car makers will remain profitable, and none will have to borrow money (except if they need capital for any reason).

That is all their words. I am not a $$$ guy. I am a meters and probes and physics and algorithym guy.

I am not distracting the thread, my point is that Maserati is feeling the effects of the market “correction” first, as it generally sits near the top of the luxury market, and only within the last few years has it been in on a really solid footing. I expect other makes to see sales decreases, also.

 

[Dave Z]

And now SM is starting to look smarter, no? Not for his “bend with the market until you get whiplash” thing, which has cost the company, but for this understanding that paying off debt was a life or death action.

 

[Erik Latranyi]

And now SM is starting to look smarter, no? Not for his “bend with the market until you get whiplash” thing, which has cost the company, but for this understanding that paying off debt was a life or death action.

Let's be clear.....nobody on these boards said paying down debt was a bad idea.

The problem some of us have is the urge to pay down debt to the detriment of everything else.

Anytime you put one aspect of a company (profits, debt, margins, etc) ahead of everything else, you are heading towards problems....especially when it we are talking about short-term financial gains.

Successful businesses balance all those many needs for the long-term.