Cross Shop Close-Up: 2014 Maserati Ghibli

Fiat is betting big that its once-dormant Maserati brand will grow to sell 50,000 cars annually. A big part of those hopes rests on the company’s new more compact – and more affordable – luxury sport sedan, the Ghibli. Priced from $66,900, the Ghibli is poised to strike in a competitive North American market. The Ghibli is intended to compete with high-trim performance versions of longtime stalwarts including the BMW 550i, Audi S6, Mercedes-Benz E550, and Cadillac CTS Vsport.

Touting a Ferrari-built, twin-turbo V6 engine, an interior adorned with rich Italian leather and woods, and available Bowers & Wilkins 15-speaker audio system, Maserati hopes to lure buyers from the more traditional offerings in the segment with an exotic nameplate and a focus on performance.

But is Maserati’s new entry connecting with these buyers? To find out, we used exclusive CarsDirect cross-shopping data from the past three months to take a look at the top five vehicles currently cross-shopped against the 2014 Maserati Ghibli.

(The percentages refer to the percentage of total Ghibli shoppers who also cross-shopped the alternate models listed. For example, 13.9% of buyers who shopped a Ghibli also shopped a GranTurismo.)

Maserati GranTurismo: 13.9%

Maserati Quattroporte: 13.3%

Tesla Model S: 9.0%

Porsche Cayenne: 6.6%

Jaguar F-Type: 6.5%

CarsDirect’s take: The top two vehicles cross-shopped against the Ghibli are higher-priced models from Maserati’s own stable, meaning that many buyers are considering the Ghibli as a low-cost option to get a Maserati into their garages.

However, the Ghibli is also appealing to those interested in hot-selling high-end vehicles such as the Tesla Model S and Jaguar F-Type, indicating that the Ghibli is getting the attention of buyers interested in the latest-and-greatest high-end offerings. These buyers are more likely to know about the Ghibli than buyers of the more traditional competitors the Ghibli is targeting (such as the upper-trim versions of the BMW 5-series), which are missing from the list.

Maserati is currently offering attractive lease rates on the Ghibli in many markets, and sales are up considerably as a result. As more Ghiblis hit the streets, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the Ghibli poach more of the traditional high-end midsize luxury sport sedan buyers the brand hopes to capture as awareness of the model grows.

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