The Italian car manufacturer Stellantis According to insiders, a sale of his weakening luxury brand Maserati is considering. An examination of all options for Maserati is one of the tasks that the auditing and consulting company McKinsey from Turiner Automobil-Holding (Fiat, Chrysler, Opel, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Bangot), said two people familiar with the process of the Reuters news agency. The work on it is still at an early stage.
In April, Stellantis commissioned McKinsey to check the consequences of the US tariffs for the sports car brands Maserati and Alfa Romeo, who are currently working on their strategy. At that time the fourth largest car manufacturer had emphasized that he was standing with the two manufacturers. McKinsey did not want to comment on the information. A stellatis spokesman said Maserati was not for sale.
Maserati sales in 2024 halved
Last year, Maserati’s sales had more than halved to almost 11,300 cars. The brand wrote an operational loss of 260 million euros. New models are currently on ice since Stellantis had called for a revision of the strategy last year.
Brand chief Santo Ficili said that the new business plan will be presented soon after the new Stellis CEO Antonio Filosa (51), who will start work the next Monday. His predecessor Carlos Tavares (66) took his hat off in December. He had strictly rejected a separation from one of the 14 brands in the group. In the meantime, administrative council leader John Elkann (49) directs the group.
Basically, at Stellantis, one came to the conclusion that 14 brands are too much. One has to “set priorities,” said one of the insiders. An optimized portfolio would increase the profit margins of Stellantis, according to investors and analysts, reports The US broadcaster CNBCÂ
. The Stellantis share has lost two thirds of its value since March last year.
Primarily Chinese car manufacturers such as Chery, who want to gain a stronger foothold in Europe, are primarily prospective buyers, the US broadcaster said. This would be comparable to the purchase of the British company MG Motor by Saic in 2007 or the takeover of the Swedish company Volvo Car by Geely in 2010.
However, there is no agreement on the subject of Maserati, reports Reuters. Some are convinced that Stellantis will not restart Maserati and that sales would be the best. Others feared that selling the only luxury brand would severely damage the reputation of Stellantis.