Maserati Quattroporte on 2040-cars

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Why Italians are no longer buying supercars

Italy is the wound that continues to drain blood from the body financial of Italian supercar and sports car makers. The wound was opened by the country's various financial police who decided to get serious about superyacht-owning and supercar-driving tax cheats a few years ago, by noting their registrations and checking their incomes. When it was found that a rather high percentage of exotic toy owners had claimed a rather low annual income - certain business owners were found to be declaring less income than their employees - the owners began dumping their cars and prospective buyers declined to buy.
Car and Driver has a piece on how the initiative is hitting the home market the hardest. Lamborghini sold 1,302 cars worldwide in 2010, 1,602 cars in 2011 and 2,083 cars in 2012 - an excellent surge in just two years. In Italy, however, it's all about the ebb: in 2010, the year that Italian police began scouring harbors, Lamborghini sold 96 cars in Italy, the next year it sold 72, last year it sold just 60. The declines for Maserati and Ferrari are even more pronounced.
Head over to CD for the full story and the numbers. What might be most incredible isn't the cause and effect, but where the blame is being placed. A year ago the chairman of Italy's Federauto accused the government of "terrorizing potential clients," this year Luca di Montezemolo says what's happening has created "a hostile environment for ­luxury goods." Life at the top, it ain't easy.

Leno profiles Pebble Beach-winning 1956 Maserati

We enjoy it when Jay Leno and his web show, Jay Leno's Garage, take a look at new, modern cars. When the comedian gets his paws on a proper classic, though, he's at his best. Leno is able to display an impressive breadth of knowledge about even obscure models, and that's no different here, as the winner of its class at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, a 1956 Maserati A6G-2000 Allemano rolls into the garage.
Part of the Maserati A6 family, this A6G is one of just 21 cars produced with coachwork by Carrozzeria Allemano, making it one of the rarer cars to grace Jay Leno's Garage. It's powered by a 2.0-liter inline-six, and, as Leno points out, is far more of a road car than the race-oriented Maseratis of the day.
Scroll down for the latest episode from Jay Leno's Garage on this fully restored 1956 Maserati.

Leak confirms Maserati product plans, five new models

It isn't a secret that Maserati is planning a product expansion in an attempt sell 50,000 units annually by 2015, but the automaker hasn't officially announced just how it plans to do so. Yes, we've seen (and driven) the 2014 Quattroporte, checked out spy shots for the smaller Ghibli sedan and Maserati even confirmed the Levante name for its SUV, but a leaked document reported by CarScoop could shed some light on how the Italian automaker intends on carrying out its rapid growth.
According to the image, the new Ghibli and Levante models will considerably lower the entry price point for the Maserati brand with the sedan having a price range from around $72,000 up to just over the $100,000 mark, with the SUV starting at close to $80,000 and topping out at almost $200,000. It also looks like the GranTurismo and GranCabrio will be getting redesigned in the near future at which point the new Gran Sport model will be added to the mix - otherwise known as the which often-rumored sports car with which Maserati will do battle with the Porsche 911.