The new Maserati GranTurismo gets unveiled at the New York Stock Exchange.

• Maserati reveals the restyled GranTurismo at New York Stock Exchange today.
• Maserati CEO Reid Bigland will ring the closing bell of the NYSE at 4pm EDT.

Maserati has chosen the New York Stock Exchange as the venue to unveil the model year 2018 GranTurismo. With its restyled exterior in “Grigio Granito” colour and refined black leather interior, the GranTurismo MC (short for Maserati Corse) makes its world debut today at the Experience Square, right at the main entrance of the NYSE.

Maserati CEO Reid Bigland will ring the closing bell of the stock market at exactly 4:00 pm EDT (10:00 pm CET) today.

Maserati will line up its entire range next to the restyled GranTurismo MC in front of the New York Stock Exchange building: a black Ghibli SQ4 Nerissimo Edition with a black/red interior (an exclusive version for the US and Canada markets, which debuted in the New York Auto Show last April), a blue “Passione” Quattroporte GTS GranLusso with a Zegna Silk interior and a white 350hp Levante with a black/red interior, the first SUV in Maserati’s century-long history.

Alongside the modern Maserati cars, busy New Yorkers will have the unique opportunity to admire a sensational sports coupé representing Maserati’s racing heritage: the blue Maserati Tipo 151 – one of three ever built – that participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1962.

MY18 GRANTURISMO: REFINED INSIDE OUT

GranTurismo is a genuinely Italian car concept pioneered by Maserati. The GranTurismo model is the latest Maserati designed by Pininfarina and since its launch in 2007 it has evolved into one of the most iconic GT cars ever built. The 4-seater coupé is considered the ultimate expression of Maserati’s passion, technology and craftsmanship and remains unique in the supercar segment thanks to its timeless design and comfortable 4-seat interior.

Maserati has produced more than 37,000 GranTurismo and GranCabrio models in the historic factory of Viale Ciro Menotti in Modena and relaunches the iconic model for 2018 with an elegant and aerodynamically efficient restyling, refined interiors and a state-of-the art infotainment system.

The streamlined GranTurismo range comprises two well defined versions, the Sport and the MC – the latter on display in New York. Both versions are equipped with the naturally aspirated 4.7-litre V8 engine, hand-built by Ferrari in Maranello and capable of producing 460hp at 7,000rpm and 520Nm of peak torque at 4,750rpm. A six-speed ZF Automatic Gearbox is attached directly to the V8 powerhouse.

The Maserati Design Centre team in Turin approached the MY18 restyling by treating the timeless design with utmost respect. The car’s new ‘sharknose’ hexagonal grille is inspired by the Alfieri Concept and adds a three-dimensional effect to its frontal view.

Together with the new, lower air ducts, the grille helps improve the airflow distribution and reduce the aerodynamic drag from 0.33 to 0.32. The rear bumper has also been redesigned with an emphasis on the natural elegance of the iconic GT coupé and cabriolet, featuring a neater design with twofold layout for the Sport and MC versions. 

The performance figures of the MY18 GranTurismo have been improved compared to the previous model year. The GranTurismo Sport accelerates from 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds and reaches a top speed of 299km/h while the lighter MC version makes it to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds and has a top speed of 301km/h .

The interior of the GranTurismo offers unparalleled comfort for four adults, thanks to the individual Poltrona Frau® leather seats with integrated headrests. The iconic Italian coupé is also available with Alcantara and leather upholstery.

For 2018, the GranTurismo features a new, high resolution 8.4” capacitive touch screen and Harman Kardon Premium Sound system. The state-of-the art infotainment system is compatible with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring functions, while the redesigned central console accommodates a user-friendly, double rotary knob, made of forged aluminium. The button cluster for the car’s driving modes is repositioned on the lower central console, next to the gearshift lever.

TMW - Its that time of the month with UK sales figures showing a futher 8.5% drop in sales.

JAGUAR
MAY 2017 2564 Sales - MAY 2016 2590 Sales - -1.00%
YTD 2017 17430 Sales - YTD 2016 13675 Sales - +27.46%

LAND ROVER 
MAY 2017 5619 Sales - MAY 2016 6290 Sales - -10.67%
YTD 2017 39474 Sales - YTD 2016 36890 Sales - +7.00%

JAGUAR LAND ROVER (COMBINED)
MAY 2017 8183 Sales - MAY 2016 8880 Sales - -8.51%
YTD 2017 56904 Sales - YTD 2016 50565 Sales - +12.54%

AUDI 
MAY 2017 13764 Sales - MAY 2016 13970 Sales - -1.47%
YTD 2017 74638 Sales - YTD 2016 75018 Sales - -0.51%

BMW 
MAY 2017 12731 Sales - MAY 2016 15243 Sales - -17.45%
YTD 2017 73489 Sales - YTD 2016 72898 Sales - +0.81%

INFINITI 
MAY 2017 346 Sales - MAY 2016 137 Sales - +152.55%
YTD 2017 1749 Sales - YTD 2016 996 Sales - +75.60%

LEXUS
MAY 2017 715 Sales - MAY 2016 874 Sales - -18.19%
YTD 2017 5281 Sales - YTD 2016 6046 Sales - -12.65%

MERCEDES-BENZ 
MAY 2017 14660 Sales - MAY 2016 13721 Sales - +6.84%
YTD 2017 82842 Sales - YTD 2016 73037 Sales - +13.42%

INCREASES BY BRAND BY MONTH-YTD

ABARTH +16.23%
ASTON MARTIN +127.75%
BENTLEY +3.49%
DACIA +0.47%
FORD +0.19%
HYUNDAI +5.91%
KIA +12.49%
MASERATI +55.64%
MCLAREN +0.00%
MG +7.63%
MINI +2.88%
NISSAN +11.14%
PORSCHE +9.54%
SEAT +20.60%
SKODA +5.57%
SMART +7.77%
SUZUKI +10.52%
TOYOTA +5.15%
VOLVO +9.53%

DECREASES BY BRAND BY MONTH

ALFA ROMEO -1.62%
CITROEN -20.81%
DS AUTOMOBILES -44.23%
FIAT -12.09%
HONDA -11.43%
JEEP -44.03%
LOTUS -9.16%MAZDA -13.69%
MITSUBISHI -18.65%
PEUGEOT -13.36%
RENAULT -5.38%
SSANGYONG -1.85%SUBARU -19.49%
VAUXHALL -14.77%
VOLKSWAGEN -5.51%

Another month has passed and yet again another drop in sales, not as high as last month, but a rather significant 8.51% down, even the year to date has now dipped only by half of one percent but again significant, will May carry on this decline, or will it revert back to growth, we have not long to wait until we find that out.

The brands that have bucked the trend and increased in sales are few and far between MG has a third more sales in April than a year ago and Infiniti running at 150%, but then both these brands are numbering in the hundreds, but MG is growing, with another new car due by the year end, and another four cars due over the coming few years, sales will come, and expansion will continue.

Jaguar Land Rover remains ahead year to date, but April was down, along with other high volume brands, Vauxhall continues to drop of sales like nobodies business, yet they continue to launch new car after new car, we have had of late the new Mokka X, New Insignia Grand Sport and Estate, the Crossland X, we have the Viva Rocks, Insignia Country Tourer and Grandland X all coming soon, as well as the new Corsa, so has the purchase of Vauxhall and Opel hurt the brands, possibly, especially when you see that the three French brands Peugeot, Citroen and DS Automobiles ALL dropping sales, some really huge declines.

Volkswagen in the UK has yet to turn that corner and grow again, thankfully for the group, Bentley, SEAT, Skoda and Porsche have all grown, Audi is only down by an insignificant figure, but VW is down by over 5.5%, Lotus dropped the ball in the month with sales down 90%, yes NINETY, even Chevrolet, the brand thats no longer for sale here managed to register 35 cars, how many more have they left.

It is great to see Aston Martin growing, the announced it's first set of profits recently, the new facility in Wales is about ready to go with the new DBX, It is also great to see Volvo growing, not just in the UK, but worldwide, now that the Geely, that owns Volvo, now owns 49.9% of Proton, and all of Lotus as well as London Taxi Company, we may get Proton back in the UK, and Lotus could have a significant influx of cash to help replace its now aging range of cars, the Elise, Evora and Exige.

Subaru is down, WHY, they have some amazing cars, i currently have a BRZ on loan readay for a road test report in the next few days, and lastly for today, Suzuki, the unmatched leader in small cars, have the Ignis, recently tested here, and the all new Swift, again, a car thats coming for another road test report, the Ignis is a brilliant car, loads of room inside, and with some exterior design touches that move it away from other cars in that class, it has style and panache, and if you are after a small car, the Ignis, baleno, Celerio or New Swift really are cars that must be checked out first.

See you all next month.

FCA European sales grew in the month of April to better the Industry Average.

FCA performed better than the European industry average once again in April. Industry sales were down 6.8% year-over-year, reflecting the number of public holidays falling during the month, while FCA posted a decrease of just 0.5% year-over-year. 

Group market share was up 50 basis points to 7.3%, making FCA fourth overall in the European sales rankings. The Alfa Romeo brand posted a particularly strong month with April sales up 52.2%, driven by the Giulia and Stelvio (already segment leader in Italy). 

The Fiat Panda and Fiat 500 continued to dominate the A segment with a combined 29.4% share. 

The Fiat 500L led its segment – with a 28.5% share – and the Fiat 500X and Jeep Renegade also ranked among the best-selling models in their respective segments. With another strong monthly performance, the Fiat Tipo also continued to climb the rankings in its segment.

In April, passenger car sales in Europe (EU28+EFTA) totaled just over 1,230,000 units, representing a 6.8% year-over-year decline.

FCA performed better than the European industry average for another consecutive month and ranked fourth overall with a total of 89,300 vehicles sold (substantially in line with the prior year). This was despite fewer selling days with several public holidays falling during the month. Group market share was up 50 basis points at 7.3%.

For the four months year-to-date, FCA sales totaled 392,400 vehicles, an increase of 10.8% compared with a European average of 4.5%. Group market share for the period was up 50 basis points year-over-year at 7.2%.

In April, FCA ran counter to the trend in Germany (+26.8% versus an industry average of -8.0%) and France (+5.0% versus an industry average of -6.0%), and outperformed in Spain (+6.1% versus an industry average of +1.2%).

Fiat posted European sales of 67,000 vehicles for the month, with market share 20 basis points higher at 5.4%.

Year-to-date, brand sales were up 10.4% to 296,800 vehicles. Market share for the period was 30 basis points higher at 5.4%.

Sales were up 3.9% in France, 8.0% in Spain and 24.5% in Germany.

The Panda and 500 continued as the two best-selling vehicles in the A segment with a combined share of nearly 30.0%. Year-to-date, sales of the Panda were up 1.0% to 74,600 units, while sales of the 500 were up 2.6% to nearly 70,200 units.

The Fiat Tipo posted another strong month, ranking as C-segment leader in Italy and among the best-sellers in Europe. Also performing well were the 500X (among the top 5 in its segment) and the 500L (continuing as leader in its segment with a 28.5% share).

Lancia/Chrysler posted April sales of more than 5,900 vehicles with share unchanged at 0.5%. For the year-to-date, brand sales were up 1.8% to nearly 27,500 units with share at 0.5%.

The ever-popular Ypsilon remained first in its segment in Italy with year-to-date sales up 2.0%.

Alfa Romeo posted an exceptional monthly performance with sales up 52.2% year-over-year to nearly 7,400 vehicles. Market share was 20 basis points higher at 0.6%.

Year-to-date, sales were up 38.7% to nearly 28,900 vehicles, with market share increasing to 0.5% (+10 basis points).

Sales were up 46.6% in Italy (+35.7% for the year-to-date), 162.7% in Germany (+94.5% year-to-date) and 55.4% in France (+22.4% year-to-date).

Driving this result were the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio. The Giulia is already among the D-segment leaders in Italy, with a 12.4% share, and climbing the rankings in other markets. The Stelvio is segment leader in Italy (11.8% share) with solid growth in markets across Europe.

Jeep posted April sales of more than 8,200 vehicles, and share was stable at 0.7%.

Year-to-date, brand sales totaled 35,400 vehicles (in line with 2016) and share was 0.6%.

April sales were particularly strong in Germany (+18.1%) and Spain (+10.1%).

The Renegade continued as one of the leaders in its segment with a 6.2% share in April. For the year-to-date, sales were up 7.8%.

For Maserati, the Group’s luxury brand, European sales totaled 754 vehicles in April and 3,840 for the year-to-date.

TMW - Its that time of the month with UK sales figures showing a massive 20% decrease in sales.

JAGUAR

APR 2017 1732 Sales - APR 2016 2405 Sales - -27.98%
YTD 2017 14866 Sales - YTD 2016 11085 Sales - +34.11%

LAND ROVERAPR 2017 4162 Sales - APR 2016 6482 Sales - -36.50%
YTD 2017 33855 Sales - YTD 2016 30600 Sales - +10.64%

JAGUAR LAND ROVER (COMBINED)APR 2017 5895 Sales - APR 2016 8887 Sales - -50.75%
YTD 2017 48721 Sales - YTD 2016 41685 Sales - +16.88%

AUDIAPR 2017 13094 Sales - APR 2016 13668 Sales - -4.20%
YTD 2017 60874 Sales - YTD 2016 61048 Sales - -0.29%

BMWAPR 2017 11277 Sales - APR 2016 10980 Sales - +2.70%
YTD 2017 60758 Sales - YTD 2016 57475 Sales - +5.71%

INFINITIAPR 2017 118 Sales - APR 2016 335 Sales - -64.78%
YTD 2017 1403 Sales - YTD 2016 859 Sales - +63.33%

LEXUSAPR 2017 672 Sales - APR 2016 835 Sales - -19.52%
YTD 2017 4566 Sales - YTD 2016 5172 Sales - -11.72%

MERCEDES-BENZAPR 2017 13345 Sales - APR 2016 12077 Sales - +10.50%
YTD 2017 68182 Sales - YTD 2016 59316 Sales - +14.95%

INCREASES BY BRAND BY MONTH

ABARTH +15.22%
ALFA ROMEO +1.59%
ASTON MARTIN +129.21%
BENTLEY +4.90%
DACIA +2.69%
FORD +2.99%
HYUNDAI +6.95%
KIA +16.01%
LOTUS +5.41%
MASERATI +77.91%
MCLAREN +0.00%
MG +1.58%
MINI +4.11%
NISSAN +13.96%
PORSCHE +6.19%
RENAULT +0.15%
SEAT +22.61%
SKODA +4.79%
SMART +11.91%
SSANGYONG +0.06%
SUZUKI +12.72%
TOYOTA +7.27%
VOLVO +10.01%

DECREASES BY BRAND BY MONTH

CITROEN -18.69%
DS AUTOMOBILES -41.37%
FIAT -13.29%
HONDA -9.86%
JEEP -38.09%
MAZDA -13.57%
MITSUBISHI -19.61%
PEUGEOT -10.58%
SUBARU -16.07%
VAUXHALL -14.94%
VOLKSWAGEN -6.17%

Jaguar Land Rover dropped by a significant amount in April, down by 50%, but the YTD saw sales still showing an increase in sales over the same period a year earlier, however With the London Motor Show just completed, we saw some significant releases, the all new MG XS, the small SUV from the Longbridge based company, the Alpine Sports Coupe from Renault, the facelifted Korando from Ssangyong and the UK launch of the Crossland and Insignia from vauxhall.

UK premium brands like Lotus, Bentley and Aston Martin all showed positive figures in the year to the end of April, whereas Volkswagen in the month and YTD saw decreases, in the month they were down by over 41%, in fact in April there was only 8 brands that grew sales over the same  month a year earlier.

Is the decline due to Brexit, or something thats not known about yet, either way, the motor industry in the UK will not be able to cope with continued decreases in sales, and if it is, then maybe the UK produced cars will grow sales, so JLR, Bentley, Lotus, Aston Martin, Honda, Nissan and Toyota as the main brands should take advantage of the issues. 

With Peugeot taking over Vauxhall, what will happen with Luton and Ellesmere Port facilities, will the carry on producing Vauxhall's, and what about the possibility of these plants producing cars from the PSA Group, so who knows, after all these years, Peugeots might be built in the UK again, or even Citroen's for the first time in decades.

TMW - The Month of March has the plate change so big sales, and it was a great month too !

JAGUAR

MAR 2017 9571 Sales - MAR 2016 5659 Sales - +69.13%
YTD 2017 13134 Sales - YTD 2016 8680 Sales - +51.31%

LAND ROVER

MAR 2017 22534 Sales - MAR 2016 18234 Sales - +23.58%
YTD 2017 29739 Sales - YTD 2016 24118 Sales - +23.31%

JAGUAR LAND ROVER (COMBINED)

MAR 2017 32105 Sales - MAR 2016 23893 Sales - +34.37%
YTD 2017 42873 Sales - YTD 2016 32798 Sales - +30.72%

AUDI

MAR 2017 30867 Sales - MAR 2016 30483 Sales - +1.26%
YTD 2017 47780 Sales - YTD 2016 47380 Sales - +0.84%

BMW

MAR 2017 15066 Sales - MAR 2016 17181 Sales - +7.40%
YTD 2017 49481 Sales - YTD 2016 46495 Sales - +6.42%

INFINITI

MAR 2017 985 Sales - MAR 2016 392 Sales - +151.28%
YTD 2017 1285 Sales - YTD 2016 524 Sales - +145.23%

LEXUS

MAR 2017 2888 Sales - MAR 2016 3104 Sales - -6.96%
YTD 2017 3894 Sales - YTD 2016 4337 Sales - -10.21%

MERCEDES-BENZ

MAR 2017 35690 Sales - MAR 2016 30243 Sales - +18.01%
YTD 2017 54837 Sales - YTD 2016 47239 Sales - +16.08%

INCREASES BY BRAND BY MONTH

ABARTH +26.68%
ALFA ROMEO +6.90%ASTON MARTIN +135.40%
BENTLEY +26.86%
DACIA +10.10%
FORD +11.32%
HYUNDAI +9.81%
KIA +22.94%
LOTUS +1.15%MASERATI +95.72%
MCLAREN +0.00%
MG +7.36%
MINI +6.73%
NISSAN +21.68%
PORSCHE +12.36%
RENAULT +4.87%
SEAT +25.33%
SKODA +9.30%
SMART +13.39%
SUZUKI +20.84%
TOYOTA +13.81%VOLKSWAGEN +4.06%
VOLVO +18.02%

DECREASES BY BRAND BY MONTH

CITROEN -14.08%
DS AUTOMOBILES -39.23%
FIAT -5.83%
HONDA -9.83%
JEEP -26.27%
MAZDA -11.76%
MITSUBISHI -22.49%
PEUGEOT -8.38%
SSANGYONG -1.74%
SUBARU -5.38%
VAUXHALL -11.06%

The month saw some significant changes, as well as some big improvements, Jaguar leads the way with huge growth, along with sister brand Land Rover, the combined sales are running at around a third higher than at the same time a year earlier, however, the UK brand which has now been sold to the French Giant PSA, Vauxhall continues to hemorrhage sales as they have dome ever month this year.

The Longbridge based brand MG is selling more and more cars this year, with the ever popular MG3 and SUV, GS, this will be bolstered with the arrival of an all new SUV model later in the year, tentatively called the ZS, but not the name of the car when it eventually arrives in the UK, and hopefully it will get a show at the London Motor Show, like the GS did last year.

Talking of the PSA Group, which includes Peugeot, Citroen and DS Automobiles, all three brands have dropped sales again, and like Vauxhall, this has happened every month this year, so, who are getting these sales, well, Ford grows again, along with the premium brands from Germany, Audi, BMW and Mercedes, added to UK brands Aston Martin, Bentley and Lotus there seems to be a "quality brand" increase in sales.

But saying that, there is also a rise in sales for the mid to lower end of the market brands, like Renault, Suzuki, SEAT Skoda and smart, these are all growers too, in fact there are very few brands that have decreased YTD, even the US Giant FCA has seen sales dip in the Jeep and FIAT ranges, at least Alfa and Maserati have increased, but not by enough to offset the declines in Jeep and FIATs sales.

The big suprise for us is the PSA Group sales, with so many new cars across the three brands, awards and price cuts, the sales are still heading south, so what can they do to change this, well, to be honest, we have no idea, they are doing everything possible to increase the sales without positive results.

Well, thats it for another month, we look forward to the London Motor Show, where we will be on Press day, enjoy Easter, we hope you all have a good one.