With the 2016 editions of Monterey Car Week, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca upon us, Crave will be on the scene to explore the worlds of elite classic automobiles and modern super cars.
The wait for Maserati’s first SUV is just about over as the Italian automaker will be releasing the all-new Levante in just a couple weeks. The first crossover or SUV of any sort built by Maserati, and it shook up the luxury sport market.
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I confirmed during these early days of the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance that the vehicle will go on sale and begin deliveries for custom orders in mid-September. The original announced at this year’s Geneva Auto Show, the Levante will offer three trim levels and a starting MSRP around $76,000.
The announcement of the Levante meant the smaller SUVs and crossovers from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus had new elite competition — while Jaguar’s new F-Pace and Bentley’s groundbreaking Bentayga faced an immediate rival. The fact that Maserati was now building an SUV also forced top sport luxury brands like Ferrari and Aston Martin needed to make it clear that they would not be creating a competing SUV.
The Levante promises to be a hot seller off the line as buyers of means will look to have that first edition vehicle cache with the sexy trident badge. Time will tell how it stands up in the market over the coming years.
