You’ve probably heard of recession indicators; now, get ready for sedan-comeback indicators. Because if Maserati confirms that it’s working on a new sedan, that is absolutely a sedan-comeback indicator. On a recent call unveiling its refreshed 2027 GranTurismo, GranCabrio, and Grecale, Maserati marketing boss Cristiano Fiorio said, “The answer is absolutely yes,” when asked whether a new Maserati sedan is in the pipeline. “I believe that sedan will come back.”
Exactly what that future Maserati sedan will look like remains, of course, a mystery, but company execs on the call did mention the E-segment, saying, “Today, we are not present in the E-segment, where we have our legacy, our story, meaning Quattroporte or Ghibli. So in this direction, we are developing a new model, because there is a specific request coming from customers.”
For reference, “E-segment” is what Europeans call the midsize class of luxury sedan that includes the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes E-Class, and, y’know, the old Maserati Ghibli. A Maserati sedan is far from a new concept, as the Quattroporte (literally Italian for “four doors”) has been an on-and-off thing since 1963, but production on the last-generation of that model ended in 2023. The smaller Ghibli, while not as long-standing a four-door offering from Maserati (it was introduced in 2013), was also sunsetted three years ago.
The tides are turning
Today, Maserati’s lineup consists of the Grecale compact crossover, the two-door GranTurismo coupe (and its drop-top twin, the GranCabrio), the MCPura, and the GT2 Stradale. A new, somewhat big sedan would bridge the gap between the entry-level Grecale and the larger, more-expensive, exotic two-door Maseratis.
However, it’s possible that the future four-door Maserati won’t follow the old sedan recipe. COO Santo Ficili said, “A modern interpretation of a sedan can change. I believe that there will be space for a sort of sedan, which is a little bit more capable.” Maybe it’ll be a Toyota Crown-style thing that sits a teensy bit higher and gets black plastic cladding, then.
It’s taken a minute to get here, but the SUV’s chokehold on the car industry is apparently starting to give way to the cyclical nature of taste and economics. Gas prices and general affordability probably have something to do with it, but a recent survey found that 51% of teenagers said they saw themselves in a sedan compared to 31% who wanted an SUV.
Beyond discourse, there’s momentum in sedan sales, too, with Honda reporting Accord sales up 42% year-over-year this April, while the Toyota Camry also saw an 18% bump over the same timeframe, per The Drive. Just how Gen X and millennials turned their noses up at minivans because no one wants to drive what their parents drove, the cohorts who grew up inside crossovers naturally do not want crossovers. Fiorio specifically even called out this trend and said younger buyers are “retro-seeking,” to which I’ll simply say: the kids are alright.
