Maserati is in crisis, that much is clear, but Stellantis has confirmed it has no intention of selling the brand. That confirmation can courtesy Santo Ficili, the new head of Maserati and Alfa Romeo, in response to persistent rumours about a possible divestment.

Those rumours were floating for a reason: Maserati's global sales plummeted by 57 percent in 2024, with barely 11,300 vehicles sold, a historically low level. Even worse, the first three months of 2025 show a further drop of 48 percent, a sign that the downward spiral continues.

Another piece of bad news for Maserati: the new customs duties imposed by the U.S. administration will heavily affect the brand. No Maseratis are produced in the United States, traditionally one of its largest markets.

Faced with the current realities, Stellantis has mandated the firm McKinsey & Company to assess the situation, particularly the impact of tariffs on sales. But the group is reaffirming its commitment to Maserati, its employees in Italy, and all of its brands. The Italian Metalworkers' Union (Uilm) released a statement supporting Ficili's statement.

Maserati has also canceled the project for an electric version of the MC20, its high-end sports coupe. Market research has shown that buyers in that segment still strongly favour internal combustion engines, especially the V6 Nettuno derived from F1 technology.

“MC20 customers primarily want thrills and are not ready to switch to all-electric. We have therefore ended the MC20 BEV project.”

Before leaving the leadership of Stellantis at the end of 2024, Carlos Tavares had acknowledged that Maserati's problems were not technical, but rather related to the brand's positioning:

“Maserati is not just a brand of sports cars. It's also gran turismo, quality of life, the dolce vita and technology,” he said.

Recall that last year, Stellantis CFO Natalie Knight hinted that the sale of Maserati could be considered one day, before the group quickly corrected the record with an official statement.

Santo Ficili also closed the door to a merger between Maserati and Alfa Romeo, emphasizing that the former targets the luxury segment, while Alfa remains a premium brand. That said, he does not rule out further technical collaborations between the two – though the company is being careful to avoid referring to duplication or “badge engineering”.

Despite the difficulties, Stellantis is keeping to its promise made in 2021: to keep its 14 brands within the group for at least 10 years. Among the more vulnerable brands, we can probably bunch Abarth, DS Automobiles, Chrysler, Lancia and of course Maserati.

The group is also working on the appointment of a new CEO to replace Tavares. An announcement on that front is expected in the coming months.