The new Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale is the fastest, lightest and most powerful car in the Maserati model line-up. Inspired by the Trofeo GranTurismo MC and the race-winning GT4 motorsport models, the Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale has more power, less weight, razor-sharp handling and a 301km/h top speed.

Responding to Maserati customer demands for a GranTurismo which can balance on-road driving needs with race-driving desires, it incorporates the handling and aerodynamic lessons from Maserati’s three current racing programs.

With 331kW (450 horsepower), it generates more power (7kW, 10hp) from the 4.7-litre V8 engine than the GranTurismo S, while its 510Nm of torque is a further 20Nm improvement. This helps to lower the 0-100km/h sprint time, which the Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale covers in just 4.6 seconds, and stretches the top speed to 301km/h.

The Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale is also the first Maserati in history to have a dedicated Race mode alongside the upgraded Auto and Sport modes in its simplified dashboard layout.

With the removal of the rear seats, the Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale becomes the first two-seat Maserati since the MC12. The GranTurismo MC Stradale has also benefited from new Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, custom-developed Pirelli tyres, a unique suspension layout and rigid, light-weight, carbon-fibre race seats.

With a unique body design that is based around the requirements of the track, the Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale has borrowed heavily from its racing car stablemates, the Maserati GranTurismo MC, both in the Trofeo and GT4 configurations. It has a new front splitter, bumper, bonnet, front guard panels, sills, exhausts and even a new rear bumper. To emphasise the harder-edged nature of the GranTurismo MC Stradale, Maserati offers the car with an optional roll cage and a four-point racing harness. Yet it was also designed to be easy to drive, so it retains all the inherent ride, handling and stability benefits of the GranTurismo S’s long wheelbase. It has the speed to be a road-legal racing car, yet it has the progressive handling to be considered an extremely usable super-sports car.

Maserati Asia Pacific growth

Asia Pacific has become the fastest-growing region in Maserati’s global network thanks to strong demand for the classic Quattroporte sedan and the GranTurismo coupe. Now accounting for 23 percent of Maserati’s total sales, the Asia-Pacific region has developed a strong taste for the Italian sports and luxury manufacturer’s unique brand of high performance and custom-made exclusivity.

Maserati has doubled its sales of all models throughout the Asia Pacific region in the last five years and has predicted it will mark a return to pre-2008 financial crisis numbers by selling 1400 cars in the region 2011. With all key markets in the region showing positive growth, China in 2010 outsold Japan for the first time to become Maserati’s Asia Pacific market leader and has cemented that position over the first five months of 2011. China’s surging sales – it has shown 100 percent growth in the first five months of 2011 over 2010 – have propelled it into the second-largest Maserati market in the world, behind only the United States.

The 13-country region’s appetite for Maserati is even stronger in the four-door market, with Asia Pacific demanding fully 50 percent of Maserati’s Quattroporte production, spread between both the 4.2- and 4.7-litre models. The GranTurismo is also strong throughout the region, boasting market leadership with a 20 percent share in most of the Asia Pacific region’s markets.

Sales for the first five months of 2011 now have Italy as Maserati’s third-largest market, followed by Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, the UAE and France, putting three Asia Pacific markets in the brand’s top 10 nations. With China and Japan leading the way, the next largest market is Australia, where Maserati was the number one exotic brand for the third year in a row in 2010, and specifically, in 2008, Maserati was the first exotic brand to sell in excess of 200 units. The fourth market in Asia is Hong Kong. Other countries in Maserati’s Asia Pacific region have traditionally included Korea, Taiwan, the Phillipines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and New Zealand, while India become Maserati’s 63rd national market when it opened this year.

This has left Maserati with 51 sales outlets, including 18 in Japan, 13 in China and eight in Australia, while the new Indian operation, in partnership with the successful Indian luxury retailer, the Shreyans Group, plans to cater to seven major cities by 2015. Maserati believes the recovery of the Indian economy means 2011 is the right time to move into the Indian car market, which posted 1.87 million sales last year and boasts 25 percent annual growth. Yet even that growth rate pales in comparison to the premium car sector, which grew by 70 percent last year.

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