Why Ferrari should be Maserati's next owner

Stellantis' disappointing first-half results — adjusted operating income fell nearly 40 percent to €8.5 billion ($9.1 billion) — has led the automaker to announce that big steps will be taken to fix the problems.

CEO Carlos Tavares said July 25 that he would sacrifice a big chunk of his forthcoming summer vacation to go to the U.S. to address Stellantis' biggest headache: North America. Adjusted operating profit in the company's most profitable region decreased by €3.7 billion to €4.4 billion in the first half because of several wrong calls on inventory size and incentive spending.

Perhaps an even bigger challenge for Tavares is to repair Maserati.

The luxury automaker's global first-half sales more than halved, falling below 1,100 vehicles a month, resulting in an adjusted operating loss of €82 million compared with a €121 million profit in first six months of 2023.

For the full year, Maserati is on track to sell fewer than 12,000 vehicles and deliver a negative two-digit margin. (It was -13 percent in the first half.)

What is also troubling is that Maserati won't get any new product until 2027 at the earliest.

Not surprisingly, Stellantis CFO Natalie Knight said on July 25: "There could be some point in the future when we look at what's the best home" for Maserati.

Tavares was even more blunt when asked about how much patience Stellantis would have for unprofitable brands. Of the 15 brands that make up Stellantis, Maserati is the only one that has its own profit and loss statement.

"If they don't make money, we will shut them down," he said. "That is very simple because we are talking about a very difficult transition period (where) we cannot afford to have brands that do not make money."

Ferrari, which controlled Maserati from 1997 to 2005, could be the Italian brand's "best home."

Since its 2015 Wall Street listing, Ferrari has shown a spectacular level of execution. In 2023, it had an industry-leading 27 percent adjusted operating margin, generating revenue of almost €6 billion on sales of just 13,663 cars.

Ferrari could be the company best suited to properly manage and nurture Maserati.

Although Ferrari is listed, Exor, the financial holding of the Agnelli-Elkann family, and Piero Ferrari control enough of the supercar maker's voting rights to push through an acquisition of Maserati, regardless of possible complaints from other shareholders.

Such a deal could provide a triple win:

1. Maserati would be able to create cars that fit its brand identity rather than selling models such as the Grecale, which is a rebadged Alfa Romeo Stelvio. Many customers do not consider the Grecale to be a true Maserati, so they are not buying it. This is reflected in the midsize crossover's more than 40 percent sales decline in Europe during the first half.

2. Stellantis would get rid of a brand it has proved unable to properly manage, freeing financial and management resources for its other 14 brands.

3. Ferrari could leverage the additional volume it would get by adding Maserati to help it with investments in powertrains and electronic systems without diluting its biggest asset, brand exclusivity.

Difficult past

This is not Maserati's first rough patch.

Citroen bought the Italian company in 1968 and by 1975 put it in liquidation, but it survived.

When Fiat, which controlled Ferrari from 1969 until 2015, bought Maserati in 1993, the volume-focused automaker also failed to make the brand a success.

Fiat in 1997 put Ferrari in charge of Maserati. Unfortunately, the move created immense tension between Ferrari and Fiat, so after eight years, Maserati went back to Fiat, which created another ill-fated combination, this time with Alfa Romeo.

The combination with Alfa was supposed to help boost Maserati's sales to 75,000 vehicles by 2025. There is no way this will happen.

Another prediction was that Maserati would deliver a "sustainable" 15 percent margin by 2025 and boost that to 20 percent in the long term.

That might be possible under new leadership but seems unlikely if Stellantis keeps control.

Editor's note: The Maserati Grecale's sister model at Alfa Romeo is the Stelvio. A previous version of this story misstated the Grecale's platform mate.