At the 2003 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Trident’s Kubang concept garnered much attention. Although just a mock-up, it represented a revolutionary idea from the Modenese brand, at a time when ‘premium SUVs’ from rivals such as BMW and Porsche were all the rage.

On this occasion, however, Maserati’s concept will be a much less ambitious undertaking, in the form of a thorough reskin of Jeep’s new Grand Cherokee. The Kubang was styled by master Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, who was commissioned by Ferrari boss Luca Montezemolo – the Prancing Horse then controlling Maserati’s fortunes. Montezemolo wanted to explore a whole new take on creating a versatile Trident model. However, Ferrari soon shed the weight of loss-making Maserati, and as the latter was moved to the control of parent company Fiat, the Kubang was left to gather a layer of dust.

As Fiat and Chrysler race down a path of fundamental architecture sharing or even just simple rebadging, few brands within the Italian group have escaped the cost-cutting mantra and Maserati is no exception. Already it has plans to spin a new ‘baby Quattroporte’ sedan off the Chrysler 300/Dodge Charger underpinnings, but before that arrives, it will take an easier route in its chase of higher volumes of tweaking the Grand Cherokee.

Maserati has been weighing up showing a Jeep-based concept in Frankfurt for some months, but Automotive News has confirmed the green light for the show in recent days, quoting unnamed sources working on the project. It additionally noted that the brand plans to build its first sport-utility vehicle at Chrysler Group’s Jefferson North assembly plant.

The ‘premium SUV’ business model squarely underpins the the financial success story that is the VW Touareg-based Porsche Cayenne, and Maserati’s CEO Harald Wester will be hoping that he can recreate that combination as he seeks to improve the Trident’s bottom line.

With that said, spinning an SUV off the Jeep Grand Cherokee undoubtedly involves a risk to the Modenese brand’s image, and while Fiat management has drawn parallels between sharing the parts “that the customer doesn’t see”, citing the VW Phaeton which gave rise to the Bentley Continental GT, this train of thought conveniently forgets that with the Phaeton the project started with the underpinnings of a car which featured cost-no-object engineering. The Grand Cherokee hardly compares in this respect, and whilst Stateside sales have been robust and U.S. media impressions strong, it has been given a far less smooth ride by the international media, where reaction has been decidedly more mixed.

The other problem will be Fiat’s tendency to prioritise slashing costs above everything else, which has led to cars such as Chrysler’s 300 and Town & Country being badged as the Lancia Thema and Voyager respectively, as well as the Dodge Journey becoming the Fiat Freemont, with the only changes concessions to regulatory necessity. While the showcar at next month’s Frankfurt IAA may well have let the design team loose, pushing significant visual changes past Fiat’s accountancy-focused management may well prove a tough task, and the design could easily be watered down in its final guise.

The engine is also a potential problem. Retaining the Jeep’s HEMI V8, with its ancient technology such as pushrods and overhead valves, would subject the SUV to ridicule in a premium European context, but equipping it with Maserati’s own V8 – which is likely to be under the hood in Frankfurt – will significantly escalate the costs of the project. There are suggestions from management that Chrysler’s new 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 will be turbocharged to the tune of 400 bhp, which would save the cost of an engine bay re-engineering exercise, but any future turbocharged Pentastar is likely to also find its way into Chrysler Group models and hence be thought of as a Chrysler product. Another option is to improve VM Motori’s ‘RA 630’ 3.0 V6 turbodiesel which is being fitted into the Grand Cherokee for European markets. However, in its current form, it has less-than-stellar performance for a Maserati application, with just 241 bhp available, although much work has already gone into improving the unit. All of these factors point towards such decisions forming a fine line for the Maserati team to tread.

Brand perception will be a tough call. Maserati has an Italian feel and style, while Jeep has an all-American image of tough and hardworking products that are also crude and basic, far from the refinement and luxury associated with the Trident. In this context, the Porsche/VW parallels are less applicable. Although Fiat management has yet to grasp how different the Fiat Group and Chrysler Group customer bases actually are, cynical badge engineering is, ironically, an equally large turn-off for both set of customers.

However, if Maserati can successfully pull the project off, they could have a high-margin winner on their hands. Despite financial restraints, the Trident has worked hard on its recent products, even in cases such as the GranCabrio where there wasn’t ever a compelling business case for spinning a super-luxury convertible off the GranTurismo coupé. Hopefully, such depth of refinement will translate to the Grand Cherokee project. With the V8 HEMI-equipped Grand Cherokee Overland costing more than 60,000 euros on European markets, however, a Maserati spin-off is likely to hike the price considerably, presenting it with a big challenge to make an impact against the luxury SUV segment fashion leaders, Porsche and BMW.

Certainly, a volume-boosting Jeep-based SUV would bolster Maserati’s aim of significantly raising sales. While Fiat is famous for wild and never-achieved targets, the latest plan from CEO Sergio Marchionne is to raise annual Maserati sales volumes to 50,000 units. While this has provoked smiles from industry watchers, it does demonstrate that Maserati is prepared to roll out new products to lift its sales. Nevertheless, back in the real world, Maserati sold 5,675 cars last year, while for the first half of 2011, sales are up 10.7 percent year-on-year to 3,213 units.