Fiat's Maserati To Unveil New Convertible In Frankfurt

Italian luxury sports car maker Maserati will unveil a new convertible at the Frankfurt autoshow in September, achieving its aim of filling out its product line with three different models.

Maserati, a small unit of Italian industrial group Fiat SpA (F.MI), said Monday it will unveil the GranCabrio at the autoshow Sept. 15 before bringing it to market the following spring.

The two-door GranCabrio is coming out at a time when car sales, including those from luxury brands, are suffering from a sharp decline in demand as a result of the recession.

In the first half of the year, Maserati's revenue dropped 43.2% to EUR226 million from the same period a year earlier. But it has managed to stay in the black since it posted its first profit in 14 years in 2007 thanks to cost-cutting.

With the GranCarbio, Maserati wants to target wealthy drivers under the age of 40, younger than those usually found behind the wheel of its two other models -- the Quattroporte sedan and the GranTurismo coupe, which came out in 2007.

Although it has yet to get a price tag, the GranCabrio will cost more than EUR100,000, according to a spokeswoman.

Maserati has made convertibles in the past such as the 2001 Spyder but the GranCabrio is its first with four seats.

Since taking it over from Ferrari in 2005, Fiat has been putting money into Maserati to revive the exclusive brand, which competes against the likes of BMW (BMW.XE) and Daimler's Mercedes (DAI.XE). Ferrari is also a unit of Fiat.

Company Web site: www.maserati.com

-Gilles Castonguay, Dow Jones Newswires; +39 02 5821-9908; gilles.castonguay@dowjones.com

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