The Maserati Grecale was supposed to debut last November but the chip shortage crisis forced the company to delay its premiere until spring 2022. Taking advantage of the extra time, Maserati engineers are putting the final touches on the SUV’s setup, with the last leg of development taking place in Sweden.
Maserati published a set of photos showing camouflaged
pre-production prototypes of the Grecale being tested in the harsh conditions
of the Swedish glades. The vehicles were driven on tarmac, snow, and ice,
making sure that they deliver maximum power and maintain in-car comfort in all
weather conditions, with temperatures as low as -30°C in Lapland. According to
the Italian automaker, the last leg of development included the fine-tuning of
“traction, understeer and oversteer in different drive modes with varying sizes
and types of wheels”.
The Grecale made its spy debut in April 2021, with numerous
sightings on public roads since. The SUV is smaller than the Levante and is
said to be sharing its platform with the Alfa Romeo Stelvio. It incorporates
Maserati’s latest design language with aggressive intakes, fender-mounted
MC20-style LED headlights, a muscular body, and slim LED taillight graphics
reminiscent of the pre-facelift 3200 GT. Recently, we got a glimpse of the
interior of the Grecale featuring a large curved screen panel and premium
materials.
According to the latest reports, the Grecale will be fitted
with a mild-hybrid turbocharged and supercharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine
producing 296 hp, alongside more powerful options including the twin-turbo
3.0-liter V6 sourced from the MC20 supercar that will most likely power the
Trofeo performance flagship. All variants will feature an eight-speed automatic
transmission sending power to all four wheels. We also expect a fully electric
Grecale to appear in the future as the entire Maserati range will be offered in
EV form.
We will learn more about the 2023 Grecale as we approach its
debut in a couple of months. The main rival of the new SUV bearing the Trident
emblem will be the Porsche Macan.