Maserati sales in New Zealand rose by 50 percent in 2007 compared to the previous year with the South Island and, in particular, Christchurch playing a major role in the Trident's sales boost.

Maserati sales in New Zealand rose by 50 per cent in 2007 compared to the previous year with the South Island and, in particular, Christchurch playing a major role in the sales boost for the legendary Italian car maker.

“Although sales in the North Island continued to grow, powered by the launch of the Quattroporte Automatic, the launch of the new dealership in Christchurch played a very significant role in our total sales increase,” says Edward Butler, General Manager for Maserati Australia and New Zealand. “The opening of our new dealership in Christchurch, Euromarque, realized demand we knew existed in the South Island and this has significantly affected our sales for New Zealand as a whole.”

Euromarque could not have chosen a better time to launch its Maserati business. The year opened with the launch of the Maserati Quattroporte Automatic, acclaimed by leading Kiwi motoring writers as the best car in its class, and providing the perfect blend of Italian style, supercar performance and ease of use. This was followed by the launch of the Maserati GranTurismo, the fastest selling Maserati of all time, with nearly 20 New Zealanders placing orders before deliveries start this month.

“With the order bank for the GranTurismo being almost as large as the total New Zealand sales for 2007 and Quattroporte sales continuing to grow,” says Mr Butler, “the coming 12 months are set to provide another record-breaking year in New Zealand.”

Across the Tasman Maserati lifted sales by 25 per cent and the Australian GranTurismo order bank is actually larger than the total sales of all Maseratis in 2007, providing a clear indication of how Maserati will lift sales for Australian and New Zealand from a joint total of 155 in 2007 to a projected total of 245 for this year, providing Maserati with yet another record-breaking year in 2008.