Maserati Kubang SUV renamed Levante

The Italian brand is forecasting an unprecedented ten-fold increase in local deliveries in just three years.

The prediction comes as Maserati confirms Levante as the name for its upcoming SUV, previously displayed at motor shows as the Kubang. It comes from via Emilia Levante, a street in Bologna where the Maserati brothers first dreamed of their car company.

It has also confirmed the continuation of the Quattroporte name and position, but announces the decision to build a new four-door prestige sedan that renews the Ghibli name used in the past. "We're looking for a massive increase in volume. Over the next three years we see massive growth," the head of Maserati in Australia, Neville Crichton, reveals exclusively to Carsguide.

"There is a new SUV, a new Quattroporte, and the new E Series. That will grow probably mean ten-fold growth over three years." Maserati used the Paris show to unveil its latest hotrod, the GranCabrio MC, but all the talk is about future growth as the company predicts a volume increase to 15,000 cars by the end of 2015. "Our target is we're going after Mercedes customers and BMW customers," says Crichton. "We'll have much better cars. It's going to compete seriously with Mercedes.

Our competition will clearly be mainstream competition, Mercedes and BMW. We're not going after Bentley, we sell double Bentley now. We're not going after Aston, we sell treble Aston now." The Ghibli is set to debut in 2013 and the Levante will arrive in 2014 as part of the company's centenary celebrations. The Ghibli name was first used by Maserati on a two-door GT in 1967, then returned on another two-door in 1992.

Crichton dismisses fears about Maserati's quality and also confirms a major dealer development in Australia. "We're not having problem . We have no problems with warranty now with Maserati. Nothing," he says. "The earlier cars, with the older transmissions, they're gone. They're history. The new cars have an eight-speed transmission.

"On the dealer side, we'll be putting an additional dealership into Sydney, on the north shore, and an additional dealership at Brighton in Melbourne. We've just appointed a new dealer in adelaide. Perth and Brisbane can only accommodate a single dealer and I think they're doing a good job for us."