Faltering sales and profits at Maserati are prompting a change of strategy for the luxury sports car marque.
New Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Michael Manley has admitted that the organisational pairing of Maserati with Alfa Romeo was a mistake, and resulted in the former being treated “almost like a mass-market brand”.
Manley has returned Harald Wester to the position of head of Maserati, which the German held previously between 2008 and 2016, and given him the task of installing a new management team and developing a revised plan.
Wester has already recruited Jean-Philippe Leloup from Ferrari to lead a new department called Maserati Commercial. A new boss has been appointed to Maserati North America too. There’s no word yet on whether additional investment will be directed to the brand.
Speaking at an investor conference last year, Manley said: “With hindsight, when we put Maserati and Alfa together, it did two things. Firstly, it reduced the focus on Maserati the brand. Secondly, Maserati was treated for a period of time almost as if it were a mass-market brand, which it isn’t and shouldn’t be treated that way.”