Stellantis has paused production at its sprawling Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy, as demand for Maseratis built at the site tapers off.
The plant is responsible for the Fiat 500e electric hatch as well as four Maseratis: the GranTurismo (both gas and electric versions), Ghibli, Levante, and Quattroporte.
The plant was paused this week and will resume before being stopped again between Oct. 19 and Nov. 3, Automotive News (subscription required) reported on Thursday, citing comments made by a Stellantis spokesman.
Approximately 2,400 employees will be temporarily laid off.
The GranTurismo received a redesign for the 2024 model year but the other Maserati models are all nearing the end of the product cycle, when demand typically weakens. Citing union officials, Automotive News reported that Maserati production at Mirafiori was paused as much as 58 days in the first half of 2023.
2021 Maserati Quattroporte Trofeo
The Ghibli and Quattroporte will both cease production in December and will be replaced by a single model under the Quattroporte name. Like the GranTurismo, both gas and electric versions of the redesigned Quattroporte are thought to be coming.
According to Automotive News, the Levante will soldier on until receiving its own redesign in 2025.
Maserati has already announced the end of the V-8 engine ahead of the arrival of the next-generation models.
Despite the weakening demand, Maserati sales in the first half were up 41% from a year ago, coming in at 14,500 units. The sales have been given a massive boost thanks to the Grecale compact crossover which was a new addition to the lineup for 2024. The Grecale is built at a separate plant in Cassino, Italy.
Maserati isn't the only Stellantis brand experiencing weak demand. Jeep sales through the first half are down 12% from one year ago, following a trend that goes back to 2019 when Jeep sold nearly one million vehicles in the year. In 2022, its sales were 684,614 units, which was down 12% from the previous year. Stellantis on Thursday named Antonio Filosa as its new CEO for Jeep. He replaces Christian Meunier who had held the top job since 2019.
