Maserati wants to add 20 U.S. dealerships by year end
Speaking to Automotive News at the Paris auto show, Harald Wester said the U.S. is Maserati's "most important market" to reach its ambitious global sales goals.
"I think until the end of the year we would achieve the range of 120" dealerships in the U.S., up from the current 100, Wester said. At the end of 2013, Maserati had 79 U.S. dealerships.
Maserati aims to boost global sales nearly fivefold by 2018, from 15,400 vehicles in 2013 to 75,000.
"We came from 220 or 230 [dealers] globally at the end of 2012, and currently we are in the range of 355 dealers," Wester said.
Plans call for about 450 Maserati dealers worldwide by the end of 2015.
In the U.S., Wester said "there are some nice spots in the middle where we aren't yet properly represented."
Last November, Peter Grady, the longtime head of Chrysler's dealer network, was also named president and CEO of Maserati North America and tasked with adding Maserati stores. Wester said that Maserati is on track to reach about 35,000 sales globally this year, more than double its 2013 sales number. He expects global sales of 50,000 in 2015.
In 2016, Maserati will add a full-size SUV, the Levante. In the next few years, the brand also plans to add the Alfieri sports coupe and an Alfieri convertible, and to either redesign or replace the GranTurismo sports coupe.
Unlike some other luxury brands, Maserati's lineup won't extend down-market below the Ghibli sedan, which starts at about $70,000 in the U.S. That territory will be left for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' other brands. "It's most important for us to have a very clear definition of what the brands stand for, its position and its range. There will be some overlap," but it will be small, Wester said. "It's not everybody doing a little bit of everything."