Prior Review of the Levante from Maserati in Design Patents

The coming-soon crossover from Maserati fell under prior review in new styling patents.

The Levante is going to become the first producer’s crossover. It is scheduled to premiere at the beginning of 2016. Maserati gave a prior review of the model with the Kubang concept for the first time four years ago. It looks like the patents keep a similar styling theme to the concept. The papers were filed in Australia back in April. They received registered status not long ago as the Italian automaker is getting ready for its worldwide launch.

Gossips about building the Levante on the identical platform with the Ghibli and Quattroporte emerged. It is also said that the model can be optionally equipped with two powertrains. They will be available in the United States. One of the powertrains includes a 3.0-litre twin-turbo six-cylinder engine outputting 410 hp. The other one is a beefier 3.8-litre twin-turbo eight-cylinder engine generating 530 hp. As to European markets, the automaker is going to sell a diesel option. Moreover, a plug-in hybrid is being developed and is going to join Maserati’s range in future. All the powertrains will be mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive.

The model’s premiere is expected in January of 2016. The Italian manufacturer wants to start production on the Levante crossover next March. The automaker is targeting at 37,000 vehicles sold per year by 2018. This number accounts nearly half of the company’s annually deliveries.