Ferrari now has 100% of Maserati
December, 1999
The Maserati Pages

After putting its trust in Ferrari a decade ago and seeing it rebound from trouble with the introduction of the 355 and 456, FIAT Auto acquired Maserati from the De Tomaso family in 1993. Following a restructure of Maserati, in June 1997 FIAT Auto transferred 50% of the capital to Ferrari and via the Administrative Council of Ferrari SpA made it responsible for the operations side of Maserati whilst maintaining separate identities for both marques.

That initial announcement dated June 3, 1997 was probably enough to make a few people turn in their graves. It was one thing being owned by FIAT Auto and partly managed by Ferrari, but quite another to be half-owned by Ferrari. The Maserati brothers were of course fierce competitors with Enzo Ferrari during his time with Alfa Romeo as Manager of Scuderia Ferrari in the 1930's and then later in the 40's and 50's after Enzo had formed Ferrari.

Since its official involvement in Maserati in 1997 Ferrari has wasted no time. The Maserati factory was closed in November 1997 and not re-opened until it had been completely re-equipped and upgraded in May, 1998. In the meantime more than 400 changes were made to the Maserati Quattroporte and a new version the Evoluzione released followed the re-opening of the factory which was then followed a few months later with the release of the Maserati 3200GT. Concurrently the network of Maserati importers was expanded from 17 to some 37 by convincing Ferrari dealers to add Maserati to their showrooms.

In a recent press announcement dated November 12, 1999, FIAT Auto announced that the remaining 50% of the equity they held in Maserati had been transferred to Ferrari SpA. Not that the announcement has any significance to FIAT's immediate bottom line, but it does put the pressure on Ferrari to ensure that Maserati is profitable. Undoubtedly it will have other affects as well. With the planned entry into the US market in 2001 where its success will ensure the marques longevity, the association will no doubt reassure customers who have come to view new Maserati models with some scepticism. Not that Maserati is unknown in the US it did after all win the Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and 1940 (and came close in a couple of other years) and remains the only European car to win the race in two consecutive years.

As to the future it is rumoured that the bi-turbo motors will be retired and replaced with a naturally aspirated 4 litre V8 sometime following the US release of the 3200GT in 2001 and the Spyder version of the car due to be released at about the same time. How likely is this? Who knows we'll just have to wait and see!