Maserati has released the first official images of its upcoming four-door sports executive sedan in advance of its debut at the Shanghai Motor Show later this month.

The all-new Ghibli is set to break new ground for Maserati.

The Ghibli will have a sportier character compared to the larger Quattroporte, launched at the beginning of this year. The Ghibli will be available with two turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engines, an eight-speed automatic transmission and both rear-wheel drive and the new “Q4” all-wheel drive system.

The Ghibli will also become the first Maserati production car in history to be powered by a diesel engine, with a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel.

It is Maserati’s first sedan in this segment and reflects the company’s belief that a growing number of premium executive car buyers are looking to make an individual statement through a car that is distinctive, elegant and luxurious.

The Ghibli will play a significant role in Maserati’s growth plan to sell 50,000 cars per year.

The all-new Ghibli marks a turning point in Maserati’s history. Unveiled at the Shanghai Motor Show and arriving just months after the new Quattroporte, the Ghibli will give Maserati two concurrent four-door sedan models for the first time in its history.
The Ghibli is smaller, shorter, lighter, more dynamic, less expensive and more economical than the flagship Quattroporte and provides a cornerstone in Maserati’s plans to build 50,000 cars a year by 2015.

Its petrol range provides high performance from both of the power outputs from the twin turbo-charged, 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine and it also offers customers the choice of rear- or all-wheel drive in an E-segment luxury sports sedan.

The Ghibli has a more-focused, sportier philosophy than the larger Quattroporte and its most powerful model, the Ghibli S, has 301 kW (410 hp) of power, races to 100km/h in 5.0 seconds and stretches out to a top speed of 284km/h.

The Ghibli is also the first Maserati in history to be powered by a diesel engine, with a turbo-diesel V6 producing all the sound, refinement and driving pleasure typical of Maserati while delivering fuel consumption below six litres per 100 km on the NEDC formula. The Ghibli diesel will also become the first Maserati with Start-Stop technology.

It shares much of its core architecture, including its crash safety, its chassis, its suspension architecture, its engines and its LED headlight technology, with the larger Quattroporte, though it is 50 kg lighter, 173 mm shorter in the wheel base and 291 mm shorter overall.

The Ghibli’s design team was challenged to produce a sedan that emphasized its more dynamic driving characteristics through a more aggressive visual personality, yet still maintained discernible visual links with the Quattroporte.

The outline of the body reflects a coupe-like philosophy for the four-door sedan, while there are strong feline hints around the Ghibli’s grille and headlights. The grille takes its inspiration from the current GranTurismo and it can draw a line back to the classic 1950s A6 GCS.

It also maintains Maserati’s distinctive C-pillar treatment, which delivers much of the coupe-like stance and carries the classical Saetta Maserati logo, carrying on a tradition dating back to 1963.

The side profile is dominated by a swage line that runs from the traditional Maserati grille vents behind the front wheels and finishes in the rear lights themselves.

Inside, the Ghibli sets itself apart from the Quattroporte with a unique dashboard design that perfectly matches its sportier and more youthful character without losing any of the luxury expected from Maserati. The Ghibli also delivers a sporty design combined with all the spaciousness expected in an executive sedan from Maserati.

The Ghibli, the Ghibli S, the Ghibli S Q4 and the Ghibli Diesel all utilize an eight-speed automatic transmission to deliver their performance, providing seamless comfort with fast gear shifting for hard acceleration.
All Ghibli models deliver exquisite handling thanks to their perfectly balanced weight distribution, a double-wishbone front suspension and a state-of-the-art five-link rear suspension. It can now deliver the added security and all-weather assurance of all-wheel drive as well.

It also delivers new standards in quality in every area from design, development, fabrication and process controls. It is produced in a new plant that combines Maserati’s traditions of craftsmanship with cutting-edge technologies that are able to guarantee outstanding quality by controlling even the tiniest details.

The Ghibli has entered the E-segment sports premium market with a marked advantage in cabin craftsmanship and detailing, including luxury features like the Maserati Touch Control screen, adjustable pedals, reversing camera, Poltrona Frau leather interior and the 15-speaker Bowers & Wilkes audio system, as well as WLAN-based WiFi and compatibility with most modern mobile phone systems.

The original 1963 Quattroporte invented the concept of the luxury sports sedan, the new Quattroporte continues to be the genre’s benchmark and now the Ghibli offers all the Quattroporte’s qualities in a more dynamic, more affordable package.

A show-stealer on the Maserati stand, the Ghibli Ermenegildo Zegna Edition is the natural evolution of an all-Italian partnership between the Trident emblem manufacturer and the Trivero-based Maison.

In the Centennial year for the brand, and after the success of the Quattroporte Zegna Limited Edition, released in only 100 units, Maserati and Ermenegildo Zegna chose Ghibli as the natural evolution of their partnership, presenting an absolutely unique concept car.

Maserati Ghibli S Q4, designed in collaboration with Ermenegildo Zegna, offers a new, exclusive product style interpretation; with its dynamic, contemporary look, it targets a luxury bracket of precious detail lovers and has been created with a renewed product range in mind for the future. The bodywork has a tri-coated paint finish in a new colour shade and the 20” wheels also come in a specially developed colour; the interior has been designed as the ultimate expression of style and exclusivity, with a contrasting colour scheme created by combining the finest leather and valuable Zegna yarns.

A substantial representation of the Maserati model range will also be on display at the stand, including the Quattroporte GTS, characterised by a new exterior and MY15 richer selection of standard equipment, and also available in a Diesel version. Two more Ghiblis will be present in their S Q4 and Diesel versions, alongside the Centennial Editions of the GranTurismo MC Stradale and GranCabrio MC.

If the traditional sports nature of Maserati is embodied by the GranTurismo and GranCabrio Centennial Editions, the future is unquestionably represented by the Maserati Alfieri Concept, recent winner of the “Design Award for Concept Cars & Prototypes” during the Villa d’Este Concours d'Elegance last May. Created for this year's Maserati Centennial, Alfieri explores the stylistic heritage of the brand and anticipates its future design trends.

The Maserati Ghibli S Q4 by Ermenegildo Zegna Concept, to be presented at the Paris Motor Show as a world preview, stands out from the rest of the current Ghibli range thanks to its special colour finishes, materials and trims; it is a tribute to the harmony of opposites, a stylistic synthesis between sophisticated design and technological dynamism.

Intended to be a first milestone towards the manufacturer's renewed, future product line-up, this special trim developed for the concept car enhances its character and aesthetic value, making it even more exclusive thanks to the materials designed in collaboration with Ermenegildo Zegna and adapted to the car's interior to create the ultimate contemporary look.

The exterior is characterised by a new, exclusive Azzurro Astro colour; the production technology is based on a triple layer of pigment, adding to the depth, shine and iridescence of the finish, enhanced by changing shades of blue at the brightest points, and toned down to ash grey in the darker areas. The aluminium pigments used for this special colour magnify the design lines and bring out the muscular profile of the bodywork; the car's sculpted outline is forcefully enhanced by the colour used, while the transparent top coat adds depth and a glossy shine.

Other immediately apparent exterior features are the 20” Urano wheels with their distinctive colour specially developed for this concept car; this finish, named Liquid Metal, emphasises the sports style, high technology and luxury positioning of the vehicle design. As befits the sartorial excellence represented by the Maserati and Zegna partnership, the style focus is mostly on the interior. The shared experience with the Quattroporte Zegna Limited Edition helped Ermenegildo Zegna create a pure silk fabric, combining an essential and soft feel with an elegantly technical look, resulting in an extremely high visual impact.

Dynamism and a contemporary feel are the key words to read the dual-colour, dual-material composition of the passenger compartment - in leather tones and Zegna anthracite silk.

The natural colour leather of POLTRONA FRAU is matched with Ermenegildo Zegna's micro-chevron silk weave, in a pattern effectively characterising the interior. Silk, an inherently sophisticated material, is further embellished by the hand-stitched macro-chevron pattern and finished off by the seat piping. On the door panel, too, the matching salt and pepper silk jersey is enhanced by an alternating rib embroidery.

As for the seating, the extra fine grain, natural colour leather with contrasting, light grey stitching is matched to a central silk insert with a micro-chevron weave of vertical rolls on the central seat and backrest area, within which the central roll, with leather piping on the sides, features a special macro-chevron weave adding to its three-dimensional, soft feel and technical appearance.

On the door panels, the central span is covered with Zegna silk Jersey and embellished by a diagonal roll pattern, with ton-sur-ton ornamental stitching and alternating rib embroideries. The same fabric is used to cover the car's roof lining, top pillars and sunshades, carrying “Ermenegildo Zegna Exclusively for Maserati” brand labels on the inside. The sophisticated, luxury finish of the car interior is also expressed by the headrests, featuring an embroidered Trident emblem and contrasting stitching.

Inside the car, the signature dynamism of this concept model is reflected in the precious decorative inserts in glossy carbon fibre, applied to the massive central tunnel and door panels; thanks to the elaborate twill weave and thickness of the transparent layer, this material will enhance the perception of the dynamic, technical, superior quality nature of the passenger compartment.

This car has other exclusive features including the black mat covers with leather insert and the embroidered Ghibli name, finished off by a natural colour leather edge and fixed to the car floor with buttons machined from billet aluminium; the door sill plates are also specially designed, precious elements: machined from billet aluminium and satin-finished, they have a glossy carbon fibre insert and carry the Maserati logo. An exclusive Ermenegildo Zegna Edition plate is applied to the external central pillar and tunnel between the front seats.

The car is powered by the high-performance 410 HP V6 Twin-Turbo engine, with “Q4” four wheel drive, ensuring 0 to 100 km/h acceleration in just 4.8 seconds also thanks to a maximum torque of 550 Nm, and able to reach a top speed of 284 km/h.

Maserati North America has chosen the background of New York City to unveil a new special Ghibli model, the Nerissimo Edition, of which only 450 will be produced strictly for the United States and Canada. The debut of the Ghibli Nerissimo at the New York International Auto Show will showcase an edgier vehicle with a deep black palette. The name Nerissimo is based on the Italian expression for “extremely black.” The Nerissimo will be unveiled for the first time at the Javits Center during the auto show.

The Nerissimo will be available as Ghibli, Ghibli S and Ghibli S Q4, and will include Glossy Black finish 20-inch Urano wheels, black door handles, black window trim and black grille features, as well a black extended leather interior featuring red stitching and gear-shift paddles, INOX sport pedals, red brake calipers, Dark Mirror interior trim, Sport Seats and a Sport Steering wheel. All models will also feature standard blind spot assist, front and rear parking sensors and remote start, while the Ghibli S and S Q4 versions of the Nerissimo will additionally be equipped with Harman Kardon stereo systems.

Each Nerissimo vehicle will have a badge located on the center console highlighting the fact that it is one of only 450 total produced.

For 2017 the Maserati Ghibli takes a further step towards satisfying individual taste with the introduction of two new packages, Luxury and Sport, enhancing the standard features of every Maserati. The packages are designed to appeal to customers with differing tastes.

In terms of engines, the Ghibli features the acclaimed, Ferrari-built, Twin Turbo-charged 3.0-liter V6 engine with an 8-speed ZF automatic transmission, featuring a Start & Stop function.

The Ghibli S Q4 Nerissimo on display in New York delivers 404 horsepower and the handling agility of Maserati’s Q4 intelligent all-wheel drive, gripping the road for maximum performance. It accelerates from 0-60 mph in 4.7 seconds, reaching a top speed of 176 mph.

The Ghibli is the most accessible Maserati, with pricing starting at $71,600. The Ghibli S Q4 is priced beginning at $79,700.

Pricing for the Ghibli Nerissimo will start at an MSRP of $77,250, with the Ghibli S and Ghibli S Q4 available at $84,000 and $86,500, respectively.

Additional new and varied offerings on display at the New York International Auto Show include two S versions of the Modena-based company’s first SUV, the Levante, one of which features the exclusive Ermenegildo Zegna Edition interior, as well as the Quattroporte S Q4 GranSport and GranTurismo Sport Special Edition.

New Ghibli GranLusso mildly updates a car that was updated last year

Meet the Maserati Ghibli GranLusso. That suffix is new, and it marks this out as the facelifted Ghibli, which lands four years after Maser’s BMW 5 Series rival launched.

It’s had a restyle, but good luck identifying one on the road. The headlights are mildly different, the grille gets more chrome, and we’re told the bumpers are new. Anyway, it’s always been a decent looking thing, so we can tolerate Maser not messing with it too much.

They insist the GranLusso’s new styling isn’t just aesthetic, and that it improves the Ghibi’s aerodynamics. Whether the change is as marginal aerodynamically as it is stylistically we’re not told…

The Ghibi’s GranLusso-ing also brings new active safety tech to take us a step closer to self-driving Maseratis, but we imaging choosing one of these over a superior 5 Series or E-Class means you’re more interested in driving yourself. Engines should remain the same; a 272bhp V6 diesel that sells best, and 345bhp and 404bhp V6 petrols that drive best.

The Ghibli received an update last year (we drove it, here) and so the adding of a new badge and some minor exterior tweaks are, in truth, leaving us a bit nonplussed. It seems Maserati has predicted that, giving the car its big reveal at the Chengdu motor show this week (what do you mean you haven’t heard of it?), rather than at the huge Frankfurt show next month.