2013 Maserati Quattroporte first official images and details

Replacing the Italian manufacturer’s highest-selling model of all time, the all-new Maserati Quattroporte brings sharper styling, a more spacious interior, a V8 engine manufactured by Ferrari in Maranello and a renewed focus on dynamic performance and ride comfort.

The new Maserati Quattroporte is scheduled to reach Australian showrooms in the third quarter of 2013, around six and a half years after the first-gen model landed on our shores in early 2007.

The new model is still instantly recognisable as a Quattroporte – retaining the original’s upright front grille, triple side air vents and triangular C-pillars – although the new car’s sharper headlights and tail-lights, strong belt line, frameless doors and three side windows clearly sets it ahead of the model it replaces.

The interior oozes simplicity, incorporating a large touchscreen responsible for controlling most of the car’s infotainment functions, an attractive three-point steering wheel, and generous lashings of leather, wood, high-gloss plastic and polished metal surfaces to create a classy, uncluttered cabin.

Details of the new Maserati Quattroporte’s powertrain remain under wraps at this stage, although with sister company Ferrari responsible for producing all the engines for the new car, the new model promises to be more powerful, more exciting and more fuel efficient than ever before.

Maserati says the 2013 Quattroporte’s new chassis is lighter than ever and more versatile, allowing for a more diverse powertrain line-up. While ride comfort remained the priority, the Italian manufacturer says the new car also reaches new heights in terms of performance and handling, and driving enjoyment.

The all-new Quattroporte will join the GranTurismo and GranCabrio sports cars in Maserati’s global line-up from early next year, and will be followed later in 2013 by the mid-sized Ghibli sedan and the Levante SUV in 2014.

Maserati aims to sell 50,000 cars around the world in 2015, including 1500 in Australia and New Zealand.

Australian prices and specifications of the 2013 Maserati Quattroporte will be revealed closer to its local launch early in the second half of next year.