The italian trident brand just revealed its latest car, the Maserati Ghibli Hybrid. You were expecting a fully new car? Well, hold your horses, the brand new car is just a Ghibli, and it looks the same as the other Ghibli. Wait a second… Wasn’t the actual Ghibli presented something like back in 2013? You’d be fully right! The baby Maserati was presented at the Shanghai Motor Show 7 years ago as the cheapest car of the brand, and the first ever to be available as a diesel. The Maserati brothers must have been rolling in their graves once they heard this news. The M157 Ghibli then got a refresh in 2018 with two new trims, which included a new front and rear fascia as well as a fully revised interior. And now, there’s a new one. Which is not so new. Text: Mickael B. © Photos: Maserati ©
The diesel Maserati Ghibli was an outrage
If you thought that, back in 2013, having a diesel Maserati was an outrage, I would strongly suggest throwing off your computer, burning your whole house down, and digging a hole so deep you can maybe find a machine to turn back time. If you do succeed, please ensure to kidnap me from my parents as a child and drop me in the proper era of the first generation Ghibli, somewhere in the late sixties or beginning of seventies. However, ladies and gentlemen, I feel very sorry to tell you that the brand who used to make the best sounding car ever has gone… electric. Although, it’s not fully electric (yet), the new Ghibli is not even a rechargeable hybrid like every other car manufacturer is doing right now.
Maserati + WLTP regulations = 4 cylinders
So, Maserati might not have been fully inspired and just copied so many other brands with their strategy. Nonetheless, there are one good news and one bad news coming in addition to the introduction of this “new” Ghibli. Which one should we start with? The bad news, of course. Well, if you were hoping the Ghibli had gone hybrid with its mighty 2.9 liter six cylinder engine, such as the one we tested a few years back in the S Q4 (click here to read our full report), you’d be wrong. Very wrong. What then? Have they put the 3.9 liter Ferrari issued twin turbo V8 with an electric engine? Are you crazy or what? Have you heard about WLTP european regulations? What do you think? See where I’m going there… Yes… Oh, that little bad thought. Yes… They’ve done it. They threw in a four cylinder in a Ghibli.
Maserati salesmen better have some strong arguments to sell the “Ghybrid”
Of course, your nice Maserati commercial guy at your local dealer will tell you the Ghybrid, like I call it, has plenty of power, with 325 horsepower and 450 Nm of torque, thanks to the 48 V electric system. Of course, he’ll tell you it’s fast. 5,7 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h ain’t that bad after all, and it’s still a Maserati, right? Come, on, it even has some fancy blue accents to remind everyone around that you’re driving something half-electric! But is it really the Maserati you want to drive? Just as the diesel Ghibli in its time, which the Ghibli Hybrid is actually replacing (and that’s the good news, by the way), it’s the Maserati you don’t want. The ugly duckling of the lot. Just throw in that extra cash and get the real Ghibli, a Gransport trim with the Ferrari derived F154 engine for f**** sake!
