Maserati sales plummet due to dealers discounting too much?

(Dan Tri) - CEO Carlos Tavares believes that Maserati does not have a clear position and "the brand story is not as expected".

Maserati sold around 20,600 cars in the first nine months of 2023, but by the same period this year that number had plummeted to around 8,600, according to the latest official data from Stellantis, the group that owns the sports car brand. That's a 58.3% drop, which led to Davide Grasso losing his job as CEO.

Now, Stellantis director Carlos Tavares has criticized Maserati's marketing strategy and dealers for aggressively discounting models, which has damaged the brand's value.

Maserati dealers' continuous price cuts are said to have affected the brand's appeal (Photo: Maserati).

This isn’t the first time Tavares has criticized Maserati’s marketing. He made similar comments in September, before Grasso was fired. The company is now trying to “correct costs” to stem the decline.

Cost cutting has been a linchpin in Stellantis’s plan to revive Maserati, a point underscored by the release of its third-quarter results, which saw sales fall by 60% compared to the third quarter of 2023.

"Maserati's sales remain significantly lower than the same period last year, despite the launch of several important new products in 2024, in particular the pure electric variants of its luxury SUVs and coupes. Maserati will operate with a significantly reduced product portfolio for the foreseeable future, after discontinuing three models at the end of 2023. The main focus will therefore be on adjusting costs to return the company to profitability," the company said.

According to Top Gear, Mr. Tavares still believes that marketing is the big issue here.

"Maserati is losing money. The reason is marketing. The Maserati brand is not clearly positioned and the brand story is not going in the right direction. The Maserati brand is not only associated with sports cars, but also with gran turismo (GT) cars, which is quality of life, the sweet life and technology," he said.

Mr. Tavares also criticized Chinese dealers for wanting to sell cars at large discounts.

“We said we don’t want you to destroy our brand. But if your marketing is bad and your dealers think you need to discount, that’s a problem,” he said.

Unfortunately for Stellantis, this is just one of many problems it is trying to solve. The group saw sales fall 20% in the third quarter (including many brands besides Maserati), is also in the process of suing its fifth supplier this year, and has halted production of models like the Durango and Grand Cherokee.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/o-to-xe-may/doanh-so-maserati-lao-doc-do-dai-ly-giam-gia-qua-nhieu-20241106170537842.htm