Maserati Kubang makes US debut in Detroit

Think of a Grand Cherokee built in Detroit but give it a cockpit and a skin from Maserati plus put an engine that has some Ferrari DNA. This vehicle will not be known as the Kubang.

Sergio Marchionne, the topman of Fiat, reiterated during the auto show in Detroit that the newly unwrapped concept vehicle Maserati Kubang which is scheduled to roll out in 2013 will just be purely Maserati.

The crossover from Maserati will be using the same platform being used for the Grand Cherokee and it will also be built at the production line of Chrysler at their Jefferson North factory in Detroit. One way to think about it is that the Maserati crossover will have some sperm donors which when you think about it includes Mercedes-Benz since they helped develop the architecture used by its M-Class and the one being used for the Grand Cherokee.

You will not find a Hemi V8 by Chrysler under its hood though. Marchionne revealed that under the hood of the Kubang will be twin turbo V8 4.0L powerplant which is Ferrari-based. This engine can give a monstrous output of 500 horsepower.

Marchionne explained that a Maserati will not be a Maserati if they do not use a Ferrari engine. Maserati has tapped the services of Paolo Martinelli to help develop new powertrains. Martinelli was the former engine development head of the F1 team of Ferrari.

According to a Fiat representative, the powerplant for the new Maserati crossover will be built in Maranello and will be linked to the brand’s automatic gearbox with eight speeds. Chassis tuning will also be performed by another team in Modena.

The first version of the Kubang concept which really looks different from the latest interpretation was welcomed by fans in 2003 but was later on shelved.