The Breakdown
- Maserati sales have collapsed by 58 percent in only two years.
- Only 11,127 vehicles were delivered last year.
- U.S. tariffs and weak demand in China are some of the causes.
Stellantis has quite a few brands struggling in today’s hyper-competitive automotive industry. The conglomerate has even had to deny reports about axing or selling some of these troubled companies. It’s no secret that Maserati is going through a tough period, and the latest sales results show the downward trend continues.
The Modena-based exotic brand saw sales fall to 11,127 units in 2025, a drop of about 58 percent from 2023. Looking further back, the latest results are a far cry from 2017, when Maserati’s annual sales peaked at around 49,000 units.
So, what happened? Officially, Maserati claims several factors caused last year’s slump. Weaker demand for the Grecale is listed as one of the reasons, along with tariffs in the United States and a “reduced appetite for Western OEM luxury products in China.”
Axing no fewer than three models in recent years certainly didn’t help. The Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans were discontinued in 2023, and, more importantly from a volume perspective, the Levante crossover bowed out in 2024. It’s also reasonable to assume that some of the brand’s appeal faded when Ferrari stopped supplying V8 engines a few years ago.
Maserati’s decision to sell cars with four-cylinder engines must have further hurt the brand’s desirability. However, the company with the Trident logo has since addressed this by replacing the small 2.0-liter unit with a detuned version of its 3.0-liter V6 Nettuno engine. Many would agree that it also made the right move by canceling the electric MC20.
In the future, Maserati will work closely with Alfa Romeo to co-develop vehicles and merge some operations to achieve economies of scale. It’s also considering bringing back the manual gearbox, but let’s be realistic: a limited-run special edition can’t fix all the lingering issues. It might boost the brand’s severely damaged image, but Maserati needs a desirable mix of new SUVs and sedans to rejuvenate sales.
Speaking of fresh metal, a next-generation Levante is expected as early as 2027. A new Quattroporte could arrive a year later and indirectly replace the smaller Ghibli as well.
However, former Stellantis supremo Carlos Tavares famously said the firm’s downfall wasn’t caused by the products or a lack of quality, but by bad marketing:
'Maserati is in the red. The reason is marketing. The Maserati brand is not clearly positioned and the storytelling is not how it should be. The brand is not just about sports cars, it's about gran turismo, it's about quality of life, dolce vita and technology. We lack prospects and leads, we need to reach potential customers and deliver the right message for the right positioning.'
Maserati Sales
| Year | Sales |
| 2025 | 11,127 |
| 2024 | 14,725 |
| 2023 | 26,689 |
| 2022 | 23,404 |
| 2021 | 24,269 |
| 2020 | 17,166 |
| 2019 | 26,000 (approximately) |
| 2018 | 35,000 (approximately) |
| 2017 | 49,000 (approximately) |
Motor1's Take: Hopefully, Stellantis’ renewed interest in combustion engines in the post-Tavares era will lure more people back into showrooms. However, the vehicles must be competitively priced to stand a chance in a crowded segment. The rise of Chinese automakers with increasingly high-end vehicles at far lower prices has also taken its toll on demand, not just for Maserati, but for virtually all traditional luxury brands.
A new round of investment is necessary to resuscitate sales of a brand that deserves to live, given its historic importance. In the meantime, reports persist that parent company Stellantis is still reviewing its massive portfolio, with Reuters recently saying CEO Antonio Filosa is “assessing all 14 brands' long-term viability.”
Whatever happens, Maserati must continue in one way or another.
