- I tested a 2020 Maserati Levante GTS SUV that with thousands in options stickered at approximately $136,000.
- The Maserati Levante GTS has a 550-horsepower, twin-turbocharged V8 engine, plus a gorgeous red interior.
- The Levante GTS is beautiful, powerful, and fast. That puts it near the top of the luxury, high-performance SUV segment.
- But competition is coming — and the Levante is a great preview of what Ferrari may put on the road in the next few years.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Let's say you want a Ferrari, but you hail from a strange region where nobody is taught the lore of Maranello sports cars. An SUV is just your style, you decide. So you swing by your friendly neighborhood prancing horse dealership one day and ask if you can look at a couple of utes.
The dealer would thank you for your interest and slip you the business card of a colleague who represents Maserati, which since 2016 has been selling the Ferrari of SUVS, right down to the Maranello-sourced engine.
The question, of course, is why anybody would want the Ferrari of SUVs? Well, that's a question provisionally addressed by Maserati (we won't tarry over the adjacent question of why anyone would want the Maserati of SUVs). But come 2022, Ferrari has promised an "FUV" to be called the Purosangue — its own version of the high-riding heresy.
Interested in what that vehicle might be like, and uninterested in waiting? Look no further than the Maserati Levante GTS, which I was lucky enough to enjoy for a week. Here's how it went:
My 2020 Maserati Levante GTS tester arrived wearing a "Blu Emozione" paint job and several thousand dollars in extras that pushed the $123,290 stick price to $136,000.Matthew DeBord/InsiderThe glorious piece of Italian design is either the best-looking SUV on Earth or a solid number two, depending on what you think of the Jaguar F-PACE.Matthew DeBord/Insider
The "Nerissimo" pack was a $1,000 add-on that brought some slick, black highlights to the exterior, notably the grille.Matthew DeBord/Insider
Like Mercedes, Maserati has retained a flush hood ornament, as well as the prominent trident badge, in chrome.Matthew DeBord/Insider
The trident makes an additional appearance at the Levante's rear. (The "Levante" name, by the way, comes from a Mediterranean wind.)Matthew DeBord/Insider
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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