Is nothing sacred from the unstoppable rise of the SUV" Now after a century of producing grand tourers and saloons, not even Maserati is immune from the lure of the Sports Utility Vehicle.
Although not due to make an official debut until the Geneva Motor Show next week, Maserati released a limited number of photos showing off the forthcoming Levante. Depending on your personal view of SUVs, the styling could range from challenging to dramatic, whilst incorporating a number of design features that seem inspired by the Porsche Cayenne and even the Nissan Qashqai. Calling it pretty would be brave move.
Cast your mind back to 2002, and remember the launch of the original Porsche Cayenne. Recall the shock and outrage that Porsche – so long the producer of stylish, if anodyne sports cars – could make something so in-your-face. Purists bemoaned the death of the Porsche brand, that nobody would buy one, and the company would collapse in shame. None of that happened. In fact the Cayenne is the vehicle credited as saving the Zuffenhausen-based company. Without it there would be no 911 GT3 RS, no Cayman GT4, and quite probably no Porsche full stop. Last year the Cayenne accounted for almost a third of all new Porsches, whilst the 911 contributed only around 14% of the 225,000 total Porsche sales. Oh, and don’t forget to add on the 80,000 Macan SUVs also sold in 2015.

Porsche sold 579,000 examples of the original Cayenne and, with a second generation model ...