Following its presentation in Geneva the previous week, the Maserati Levante will be shipped to the New York Auto Show afterwards this month for its North American debut.
The first SUV in the Italian company's history completes the existing range made of saloon and sports cars and joins the Ghibli, Quattroporte, GranTurismo and GranCabrio models.
Mechanically, it rides on an evolved version of the chassis underpinning both Maserati sedans, and in Europe, it shares the same 3.0-liter twin turbo V6 powertrain with the Ghibli, in two flavors with 345 HP and 424 HP, joined by a 271 HP 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 diesel, combined with AWD.
The most frugal version, the diesel, burns 7.2 L/100 km (32.67 mpg US) and emits 189 g/km CO2, allowing a 0-100 km/h (62 mph) sprint in 6.9 seconds, while the fastest one, the Levante S, with 424 HP, needs 5.2 seconds to reach 100 km/h (62 mph) and it consumes10.9 L/100 km (21.58 mpg US).
Only time will tell if the North American variant of the new Maserati Levante will be different than the European model, however, with the 2016 New York Auto Show opening its gates on March 23 for the Press and two days afterwards for visitors, it won't be a long wait to find out.