World debut for the Ghibli Ermenegildo Zegna Edition Concept at Paris Motor Show

(MENAFNEditorial) In the Centennial year for the brand, and after the success of the Quattroporte Zegna Limited Edition, released in only 100 units, Maserati and Ermenegildo Zegna chose Ghibli as the natural evolution of their partnership, presenting an absolutely unique concept car.

Maserati Ghibli S Q4, designed in collaboration with Ermenegildo Zegna, offers a new, exclusive product style interpretation; with its dynamic, contemporary look, it targets a luxury bracket of precious detail lovers and has been created with a renewed product range in mind for the future. The bodywork has a tri-coated paint finish in a new colour shade and the 20" wheels also come in a specially developed colour; the interior has been designed as the ultimate expression of style and exclusivity, with a contrasting colour scheme created by combining the finest leather and valuable Zegna yarns.
A substantial representation of the Maserati model range will also be on display at the stand, including the Quattroporte GTS, characterised by a new exterior and MY15 richer selection of standard equipment, and also available in a Diesel version.

Two more Ghiblis will be present in their S Q4 and Diesel versions, alongside the Centennial Editions of the GranTurismo MC Stradale and GranCabrio MC.

If the traditional sports nature of Maserati is embodied by the GranTurismo and GranCabrio Centennial Editions, the future is unquestionably represented by the Maserati Alfieri Concept, recent winner of the "Design Award for Concept Cars & Prototypes" during the Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance last May. Created for this year's Maserati Centennial, Alfieri explores the stylistic heritage of the brand and anticipates its future design trends.

GHIBLI ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA EDITION
The Maserati Ghibli S Q4 by Ermenegildo Zegna Concept, to be presented at the Paris Motor Show as a world preview, stands out from the rest of the current Ghibli range thanks to its special colour finishes, materials and trims; it is a tribute to the harmony of opposites, a stylistic synthesis between sophisticated design and technological dynamism.

Intended to be a first milestone towards the manufacturer's renewed, future product line-up, this special trim developed for the concept car enhances its character and aesthetic value, making it even more exclusive thanks to the materials designed in collaboration with Ermenegildo Zegna and adapted to the car's interior to create the ultimate contemporary look.

The exterior is characterised by a new, exclusive Azzurro Astro colour; the production technology is based on a triple layer of pigment, adding to the depth, shine and iridescence of the finish, enhanced by changing shades of blue at the brightest points, and toned down to ash grey in the darker areas. The aluminium pigments used for this special colour magnify the design lines and bring out the muscular profile of the bodywork; the car's sculpted outline is forcefully enhanced by the colour used, while the transparent top coat adds depth and a glossy shine.

Other immediately apparent exterior features are the 20" Urano wheels with their distinctive colour specially developed for this concept car; this finish, named Liquid Metal, emphasises the sports style, high technology and luxury positioning of the vehicle design.

As befits the sartorial excellence represented by the Maserati and Zegna partnership, the style focus is mostly on the interior. The shared experience with the Quattroporte Zegna Limited Edition helped Ermenegildo Zegna create a pure silk fabric, combining an essential and soft feel with an elegantly technical look, resulting in an extremely high visual impact.

Dynamism and a contemporary feel are the key words to read the dual-colour, dual-material composition of the passenger compartment - in leather tones and Zegna anthracite silk.
The natural colour leather of POLTRONA FRAU is matched with Ermenegildo Zegna's micro-chevron silk weave, in a pattern effectively characterising the interior. Silk, an inherently sophisticated material, is further embellished by the hand-stitched macro-chevron pattern and finished off by the seat piping. On the door panel, too, the matching salt and pepper silk jersey is enhanced by an alternating rib embroidery.

As for the seating, the extra fine grain, natural colour leather with contrasting, light grey stitching is matched to a central silk insert with a micro-chevron weave of vertical rolls on the central seat and backrest area, within which the central roll, with leather piping on the sides, features a special macro-chevron weave adding to its three-dimensional, soft feel and technical appearance.

On the door panels, the central span is covered with Zegna silk Jersey and embellished by a diagonal roll pattern, with ton-sur-ton ornamental stitching and alternating rib embroideries. The same fabric is used to cover the car's roof lining, top pillars and sunshades, carrying "Ermenegildo Zegna Exclusively for Maserati" brand labels on the inside. The sophisticated, luxury finish of the car interior is also expressed by the headrests, featuring an embroidered Trident emblem and contrasting stitching.

Inside the car, the signature dynamism of this concept model is reflected in the precious decorative inserts in glossy carbon fibre, applied to the massive central tunnel and door panels; thanks to the elaborate twill weave and thickness of the transparent layer, this material will enhance the perception of the dynamic, technical, superior quality nature of the passenger compartment.

This car has other exclusive features including the black mat covers with leather insert and the embroidered Ghibli name, finished off by a natural colour leather edge and fixed to the car floor with buttons machined from billet aluminium; the door sill plates are also specially designed, precious elements: machined from billet aluminium and satin-finished, they have a glossy carbon fibre insert and carry the Maserati logo. An exclusive Ermenegildo Zegna Edition plate is applied to the external central pillar and tunnel between the front seats.
The car is powered by the high-performance 410 HP V6 Twin-Turbo engine, with "Q4" four wheel drive, ensuring 0 to 100 km/h acceleration in just 4.8 seconds also thanks to a maximum torque of 550 Nm, and able to reach a top speed of 284 km/h.

QUATTROPORTE GTS AND MY15
Production of the MY15 new range started in June 2014. In addition to introducing a number of new features, extensive redesigning has been carried out on the highest-specification Quattroporte version, the GTS, powered by the muscular 530 HP, V8 Twin-Turbo rear wheel drive engine.
The introduced changes aimed at making the most luxurious standard Quattroporte in the range more immediately recognisable, while considerably expanding the standard equipment.

From an aesthetic point of view, the vehicle exterior was upgraded by adding a rear GTS badge and slightly tweaking the colour scheme; the front spoiler, side sills and rear bumper bottom strip are now colour-matched with the car body, while the front grille has a gloss black coloured frame. The front trident emblem in the middle of the grille, as well as the iconic "Saetta" logo on the rear pillar, introduce the red striping typical of higher-performance versions. Aesthetic changes were also introduced in the standard wheels, still 20" in size but forged to ensure a significant weight reduction; the wheels come in a technical design and anthracite grey colour, with external diamond smoothing treatment and matt finish with colour-matched hub covers and a red trident emblem - only available for this version. The slimline spokes allow a good view of the red, anodised finish brake callipers, indicative of the vehicle's high performance and only available for the GTS version.

The car's interior was upgraded with extended fine grain leather upholstery and Black Piano lacquered trim, both offered as standard features. More interior details are a compact GTS badge added to the inside of the dashboard central clock with red pointers, and the floor mat on the driver's side with a leather insert and embroidered GTS logo.

Starting from the Brand's MY15, the Optional selection has been expanded also for the rest of the Quattroporte range, with new features to choose from including three new paint finishes, two of which are new grey shades (metallic Grigio and metallescent Grigio Maratea) and Bianco Alpi, characterised by a new, triple coat technology.

Two new wheels: a 19" one in anthracite, diamond-smoothed with matt transparent finish, and a 20" wheel in the same design as the GTS, with forged construction and Silver finish.
A wider selection of interior trims is also available, with new contrasting stitching combinations and two new colours: red, matched with black for a dual colour scheme, and a Tortora option for an elegant, plain coloured interior. Piano Black lacquered inserts are now available for the V6 petrol and Diesel versions, too, also as steering wheel inserts; for the steering wheel, the Ebony wood essence option with lacquer finish is now also available. Finally, the overhead console with integrated, three-channel Home Link system is now available for Europe, too.

MASERATI'S 2014: A YEAR OF COMMERCIAL SUCCESSES
Eight months of unstoppable commercial success for Maserati, with the vast majority of the markets in which the Trident manufacturer is active, recording considerable sale increases over the previous year.

In North America, 8,151 units were delivered to customers for a +312% total increase, while in China, where the total sales were 5,488 cars, the increase over the same period of 2013 was close to +650%.

The increasing growth trend has also continued through all the main European markets; the figure reached is 4,183 total deliveries to customers since the beginning of 2014, with an average increase of almost +400% compared to the results obtained in the first eight months of last year.

One of the main factors behind this achievement is the consolidation of Italy's role as the top European market. New registrations in the first eight months of 2014 are up to as many as 898 cars, +600% compared to the same period of 2013.

In the other world markets where Maserati is active, 3,050 units were delivered, with a +216% increase over the same period of 2013.