Maserati guns Porsche Cayenne, BMW X5 and Audi Q7 competitor

Maserati is looking to take on the Porsche Cayenne with a new large SUV, Fiat and Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne has revealed. It would be a performance orientated SUV that may use Ferrari-produced V8 engines.

Harald Wester, Maserati�s chief executive, said Alfa Romeo will borrow the Jeep Grand Cherokee underpinnings as the foundation for an upscale SUV, rivalling the BMW X5, Audi Q7, Mercedes M-Class/GL-Class, and the Volvo XC90. The SUV would join an inexpensive compact SUV and the 159�s descendant in 2013.

A new Maserati could centre on the DaimlerChrysler platform of the Mercedes M-Class, GL-Class and R-Class, Marchionne confirmed in a conference call with journalists.

Marchionne said: �One of the things we are now looking at in some detail is utilising this architecture and extending its application for future products both within Chrysler and outside Chrysler.�