Maserati will be able to fund its own projects by 2011 and will no longer require hand-outs from parent company Fiat. That’s the claim from its CEO Roberto Ronchi who spoke with Reuters after the unveiling of the new GranTurismo coupe in Geneva. Ronchi wants to expand the company and Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne expects Maserati to deliver up to 12,000 units by 2011. That’s more than double the number of car’s it sold last year.

Unfortunately, Maserati is currently running at a loss but hopes to break even this year and return to profitability by next year. "Growth in revenues is the key element in our drive to break even,” Ronchi said, adding that Maserati will increase sales to 7000 units this year.

Fiat has invested a lot of money in Maserati since buying it from Ferrari in 2005 and the new GranTurismo coupe is the first model to be developed under the Fiat umbrella. To increase its sales Maserati is considering adding a new model, but Ronchi ruled out the possibility of an SUV and instead said it will most likely be a small coupe.