Maserati extends production stoppage due to slow sales, may not introduce new Alfieri coupe in 2018

It appears that Maserati has resorted to extending its production shutdowns till mid-January 2018, a deliberate move to reduce vehicle stocks, as revealed by sources from Italy’s metalworkers union.

The FIOM (Italian Federation of White-Collar and Blue-Collar Metalworkers) and FIM (Italian Federation of Metalworkers) unions told Automotive News that Maserati production at the Grugliasco and Mirafiori factories in Italy will come to a grinding halt. Below is the breakdown:

• The Grugliasco plant, which builds the Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans, will reopen on January 15 after a four-week shutdown that started in December 15, 2017. Last year, the factory was closed for three weeks over the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

• The Mirafiori plant, which produces the new Levante SUV, will also reopen on January 15 after being shut from December 20, 2017. Last year, the factory only stopped for an extra day over the statutory holidays and weekends.

• The Modena plant, which makes the Granturismo and Grancabrio models, will resume operations earlier, on January 8 after halting production on December 15, 2017.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA, owner of Maserati) and Maserati declines to comment on the move, but head of the FIOM union of Turin, Federico Bellono is unsure if the extension is a temporary situation due to Maserati’s declining sales in China. “It is clear that production is slowing down and investment in new models are on hold,” he said.

Moreover, the Levante competes in a very competitive segment, one that is growing at a really quick pace, but sales of the Maserati SUV have been falling “faster than we could expect at this point of its product cycle,” says JATO Dynamics analyst Felipe Munoz. “This is hard to explain but worrying for the brand,” he adds.

In Q4 2017, the Levante assembly line has been out of action for 24 days out of the possible 61 working days. Apparently, Maserati told unions that sales in China have dropped after authorities implemented new rules on relationships between dealers and carmakers. There’s also new regulations that ban automakers from imposing stock on dealerships.

On the flip side, China sales have since recovered from the summer lows. JATO Dynamics says 750 units of the Levante have been shipped to China in October – down 67% compared to the same month in 2016, but still higher than the figures recorded in July and September 2017.

The larger picture is that for the first nine months of 2017, Maserati sales are up by 40% to 35,500 units thanks to strong demand for the Levante. In Europe however, sales is down by four percent in October and November, while US volume is down by 15%.

Additionally, LMC Automotive forecasts production of Maserati cars will fall 25% year-on-year to 12,217 units in Q4, 2017. Production of the Levante – now at 5,192 units – is expected to fall by as much as 44%, but the company forecasts the total production for Maserati in 2017 to be at 52,890 units, up 23% from last year.

By contrast, FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne aims to sell 75,000 units of Maserati cars throughout 2017, which equates to about 30% more volume than LMC Automotive’s full-year production forecast. Marchionne also plans to launch six new models in 2018, together with the Alfieri coupe and convertible (successors to the Granturismo and Grancabrio) as well as a special commemorative model. Neither versions of the Alfieri or the special model will likely be introduced next year, the report adds.

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