The Maserati Levante has started rolling off the production line, and is set for a Singapore launch this year

IF IT SEEMS the whole world has gone SUV-crazy, Maserati is finally set to add to the madness. This is the Levante, the Italian brand’s first SUV (or Sports Utility Vehicle) and one that is making its debut at next week’s Geneva motor show.

It should be launched in Singapore by the end of 2016, and is a key part of the brand’s strategy to grow its global sales by more than 50 percent to 50,000 this year. Maserati put 75 cars on the road here in 2015, and had a tough year globally thanks to the slowdown in China. Overall sales fell 11 percent to 32,474 cars.

The division is still profitable (and made 104m Euros last year) and has a longer-term goal to hit 75,000 cars a year by 2018.

Details of the Levante are scarce — the pictures show only the car’s styling but were not accompanied by technical info — but the brand’s Ferrari-built V6 (330hp) and V8 (410hp, 530hp) turbo petrol engines as well as an entry-level V6 turbodiesel should create the Levante range.

All models will have eight-speed automatic gearboxes, specially tuned for off-roading, and air suspension with electronic dampers will be standard.

You’ll find Maserati’s basic design language everywhere, from the large front grille and slim headlights, to the classic air vents on the front fenders and the trident badge on the C-pillar.

The Levante is Maserati’s answer to the Porsche Cayenne, so expect a large, sporty five-seater. Traditionally the brand has priced itself around 10 to 15 percent higher than equivalent Porsches (that’s before Singapore taxes) so it won’t be cheap, but it should at least stand out, even as luxury SUV models increasingly start to flood the market.

Bentley is launching the Bentayga this year, and bills it as the world’s fastest SUV, while Rolls-Royce is working on its own ‘project Cullinan’ for 2018. Underneath the chopped Phantom body (below) is the running gear of the super-luxury SUV.

Lower down the pricing ladder, German companies have been more aggressive — Mercedes-Benz will have seven SUVs in its line-up by year’s end, while BMW is planning six.

As crowded as the market is, the increasing availability of SUVs only means that the Levante has a promising future. Maserati chief executive Harold Wester calls the SUV the “biggest commercial opportunity” for the brand.

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