Exactly three weeks to the day after its covers came off for the first time at the 77th Geneva Motor Show the dramatic, new Maserati GranTurismo has made its high-profile second public appearance, this time at AutoRAI 2007, the Dutch motor show in Amsterdam. AutoRAI takes place bi-annually at the sprawling Amsterdam RAI Exhibition Centre in the Netherlands' capital city, and the event always draws a large and very knowledgeable crowd. This year the exciting GranTurismo model, the Trident brand's all-new 4.2-litre V8-engined sportscar is set to be the biggest star of the show.

Designed by Pininfarina, the replacement for the much-loved outgoing GranSport model wowed the crowds in Geneva earlier this month when it was unveiled to the world's media, and the silver example with a red leather interior that slowly revolved its way to attention at the Swiss motor show has rapidly made its way to Amsterdam just days after that show closed its doors for the final time. On the Maserati stand at the Amsterdam RAI that silver GranTurismo sits astride a raised platform, and it is joined in th line-up by the new Quattroporte Automatic, which is also making its Dutch debut and its first European motor show appearance since Geneva, as well as other examples of the luxury saloon.

"We presented the GranTurismo in Geneva only a couple of weeks ago, so its the first event after Geneva where it is on display," Joost Rijnbeek, Maserati West Europe's Marketing Manager responsible for the Benelux region tells Italiaspeed on the sidelines of Tuesday morning's press conference. "We plan to start production later this year, and probably first customer deliveries round September. As always as it's a Maserati model its quite limited, we will start production in limited numbers, so exclusivity is always guaranteed. It's completely handmade, and there is personalisation for both the interior and exterior, such as the carpets, interior trims.
 

"It's a real GT, a big four seater so it easily seats four people whereas most of the competitors can sit two and there's a small back seats, but you can't really use it. you can travel longer journeys and its very comfortable for four people, and that's a big advantage."

Maserati has three dealers in The Netherlands, and, with their sales rising each year, this country set to play its own part in Maserati's planned sales strategy which will see around 7,000 cars built in Modena this year with an eventual target of 10,000 being envisioned. "The GranSport, the last sporty version, sold well here," continues Joost, "we don't yet know numbers for the GranTurismo as it depends on what we get from the factory on allocation because it's so limited, but we have a lot of customers who are interested already. We've had a lot of customers here at the show seeing the car for the first time so it's very positive."

The Quattroporte Automatic is also expected to be successful in The Netherlands, a country that has always boasted car buyers with a strong affinity for the Italian automotive brands. "We introduced it in the beginning of the year," says Joost, "and customer deliveries began around the beginning of February, and its going very well, first deliveries have already been made."

by Edd Ellison in Amsterdam