For years we have been anticipating a performance SUV from Maserati. The long rumored vehicle is now a reality. Since Porsche first unveiled the Cayenne, luxury SUV’s have been few and far between. Maserati seems to have picked up on the fast building demand and hopped on the performance luxury SUV bandwagon with the 2017 Maserati Levante. Along with it, Lamborghini promises the Urus SUV, Bentley Bentayga makes a play for super luxury SUVs and even Rolls Royce is getting in the mix with whispers of a future SUV in the books.
One look at the Levante and it is clear that the SUV is a member of the Maserati family. With the same grace and anger of the Quattroporte, the Ghibli, the Granturismo and the Grancabrio, the Levante looks as if it would be just as at home tearing through the hills of Italy as making its way through New York City traffic. Maserati describes the it as being made to be an “on-road SUV that can go off road.” The Levant is no less graceful or fierce as the rest of its Maserati brothers, but we would never expect less from Maserati.
The Levante is a true SUV however and is more beast than beauty with its fine-tuned necessities such as hill-descent mode, ride height that is adjustable and a 424 horsepower 3.0-liter V-6 engine. Maserati doesn’t stop there. The cabin is draped in luxurious Italian leather and pairing that with the the exclusivity of the Maserati brand, we do not think that the starting price of $72,000 is too steep.