PETALING JAYA: June has been a busy month for Maserati in Malaysia.
Shortly after unveiling the
Grecale
SUV earlier this month, it tops it off with the MC20 supercar.
Local distributor Naza Italia-Maserati today gave the local media a look at the first MC20 to reach Malaysia, marking its launch.
The car on display has already found a customer who took delivery of the car on Monday. As this is the only unit available in Malaysia for now, the customer, said to be a businessman, has agreed to let the local distributor have the car for a few days to promote the model.
The MC20’s base price is RM1.08mil (RM1,078,000.00 before taxes, insurances and options).
The MC 20 also comes in a convertible version that was revealed just last month, less than two years after the world debut of the MC20 coupe. An electric version will arrive in future.
The MC20 is a coupe with butterfly doors that follows the MC12 supercar, which was produced from 2004 to 2010.
The doors, made of carbon fibre, are not only light and striking but are also functional, as they improve the car’s ergonomics and enable optimal access to and from the cabin.
In fact, carbon fibre is generously used on the body of the car to keep it lightweight. With a kerb weight of under 1,500kg, the MC20 is rated as best in class in weight/power ratio, at just 2.33kg/hp.
The MC20 (MC for Maserati Corse and 20 for 2020, the year of its world première and the start of the
brand’s new era) is powered by the much-hyped Nettuno
engine, a 630hp V6 mill making torque of 730Nm.
It sprints from 0-100kph in under 2.9 seconds and has a top speed of over 325kph.
Power to the rear wheels is relayed by an 8-speed dual wet clutch transmission.
Maserati has traditionally used engines supplied by Ferrari. With the MC20, Maserati has for the first time use its in-house engine called the Nettuno.
The MC20 is the first new-generation Maserati to have the ignition button on the steering wheel (launch control is there, too); each of the five drive modes (Wet, GT, Sport, Corse, ESC Off) are identified by colour.
A single button controls the adaptable suspension, which can raise the typically low supercar 50mm.
The MC20 super car was developed by Maserati Innovation Lab and is produced at the historic plant on Viale Ciro Menotti here.
The MC20 is covered by a 3-year warranty with unlimited mileage plus a free maintenance program of 3 years/60,000km, whichever comes first.
Maserati also sells the Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans, GranTurismo coupe, GT convertible, Levante and Grecale SUVs.
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BACKGROUND
https://www.carsifu.my/news/mc20-this-is-the-maserati-supercar
https://www.carsifu.my/news/maserati-opens-up-to-the-sky-with-mc20-cielo
https://www.carsifu.my/news/maserati-grecale-suv-arrives-in-malaysia
MODENA: Maserati has a new supercar — its first in 15 years. The Maserati MC20 is a gullwing-style coupe that follows the insectoid MC12 supercar, which was produced from 2004 to 2010.
But while the new supercar equals the horsepower of the MC12, with a 621-hp V6 engine — half the size of its predecessor’s V12 engine — it dominates the older model from a standstill. The zero-to-100kph time of the MC20 is 2.9 seconds, compared with 3.8 seconds for the MC12.
The MC20 super car was developed by Maserati Innovation Lab and is produced at the historic plant on Viale Ciro Menotti here. Three configurations are planned: coupé, convertible and electric.
Considering the excitement generated by other modern supercars (Porsche 918 Spyder, Ferrari LaFerrari and SF90 Stradale, Lotus Evija) that have focused on hybrid and electric technology, it’s an unexpected move to pair the eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel-drive MC20 with a six-cylinder petrol engine.
61_Maserati_MC20
Honda’s esteemed-but-long-in-the-tooth Acura NSX is the closest modern comparison of a supercar that uses V6 technology, which fans laud as a way to maximize efficiency and power without taking up too much space in the guts of the car, as it were.
“You could say the MC20 is a rather crazy project,” Stefano Tonietto, Maserati’s design project leader, said in a written statement. “We’re turning the tables by launching, in 2020, a product that seems to have an ‘old’ powertrain, but in fact the new pre-chamber combustion technology gives us the extraordinary ability to provide an extremely powerful powertrain.”
This new engine, named the “Nettuno,” is the first built in-house by Maserati since 1998; of late the brand has used engines built by Ferrari, which also calls Modena, Italy, home along with fellow heavyweights Ducati and Lamborghini.
The Nettuno design “will go on to represent Maserati’s future,” Tonietto said, alluding to other vehicles it may power. Separate convertible and electric versions of the MC20 are planned, though a Maserati spokesman declined to elaborate.
A critical move
The MC20 comes at a crucial time for the 105-year-old brand, which currently sells the Ghibli and Quattroporte sedans, GranTurismo coupe, GT convertible, and Levante SUV.
With gaping air vents over the front and sides of its carbon-fibre monoque body, doors hinged like butterfly wings, and gigantic wheels primed for video game clout, it is the halo car of the group that will light up consumers’ imagination as Maserati forges ahead with various, perhaps less-exciting vehicles.
In July, parent company Fiat Chrysler posted a US$1.1 billion second-quarter adjusted EBIT loss, with second-quarter sales for 2020 down 39% compared to the same period last year.
60__Maserati_MC20_Corsa_mode
The number was far worse than the losses sustained by, for example, BMW AG and General Motors Co., both of which lost roughly US$800 million. (In 2019, Maserati sold 26,000 vehicles globally, down from 36,500 in 2018 and 48,700 in 2017. In 2014, former FCA and Maserati head, the late Sergio Marchionne, had said that Maserati would be selling 75,000 cars annually by 2018.)
Analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence have long predicted that, along with sister brand Alfa Romeo, Maserati is potentially being packaged and prepped by Fiat Chrysler for a sale or IPO.
Last year the company announced plans for 10 new vehicle launches by year-end 2023, including some with battery-electric drivetrain options and high-level autonomous-driving capabilities.
Maserati operates from two locations in Modena, including an innovation lab of 1,100 employees and the Viale Ciro Menotti location that employs 600 people; it has introduced new variants of the strong Levante midsize SUV. A spokesman declined to discuss the future of the proposed Alfieri, which had been rumoured to arrive as a plug-in hybrid in 2021.
Maserati MC20 – 27
Meeting the new star
The Maserati MC20 looks like a BMW i8 with elements of a Ferrari 488 and McLaren 570S. Six exterior colours come standard and exclusive to the car, as do the 20-inch futuristic three-spoke wheels and rhomboid headlights. In a segment full of spoilers the size of picnic tables, the rear diffuser is shocking in its reserve.
Keen observers will notice subtle changes in badging on the MC20: Maserati’s signature trident has lost subtle red elements previously in the badge in favour of a simple blue background. The rear pillar of the car lacks a lightning badge seen on previous models. The Maserati script on the rear of the car is more streamlined and will be maintained on future models.
Inside the cockpit of the car, the lucky pilot will find few straight edges in any direction. The central tunnel comes in carbon fibre and carries only essential switches such as driving mode selection, gear changers, window controls, and volume control.
The MC20 is the first new-generation Maserati to have the ignition button on the steering wheel (launch control is there, too); each of the five drive modes (Wet, GT, Sport, Corse, ESC Off) are identified by colour. A single button controls the adaptable suspension, which can raise the typically painfully low supercar 50mm, or about 2 inches.
Unlike in other Maserati vehicles, there is no centralised analogue clock in the dashboard. There are ample screens and a digital, frameless rearview mirror. Both the central display and the instrument cluster incorporate 10-inch screens that display infotainment and driving options and settings. A six-speaker premium unbranded sound system comes standard; a 12-speaker Sonus Faber high-premium sound system is optional.
Set to enter production in the fourth quarter of 2020, the first MC20 cars will arrive in Europe in summer 2021 and in North America later that fall.
A spokesman declined to specify the price, how many will be made, and how many have already been sold.
Keyword: Maserati MC20 supercar launched at RM1mil