The smaller of the Maserati’s sporty luxury sedans, the Ghibli, have received some updates going into the 2018 model year, likely attached to the hope of it standing upon firmer ground when being considered against far more established European rivals, particularly from Germany.
As far as exterior alterations go, this is very much a light smattering, so little as to be nearly indistinguishable upon first blush. Indeed, the ‘new’ 2018 car in these pictures so easily could have been mistaken for 2013 original. The more hawk-eyed will notice the bold new grille with horizontal slats that were inspired by the Alfieri concept, perhaps even the new front and rear bumpers.
These changes, according to the Italian marque, supposedly do have some positive effect on the car’s aerodynamic profile. We can’t imagine them having any impact to how the car behaves, though, nor how long it needs between trips to the pump. There are also new headlights that feature a neater collection of illuminators, adaptive beams, and new LED accent lights.
A little more interestingly, Maserati have added some semi-autonomous driving capabilities to the updated Ghibli, but has so far not provided any details as to which exact features these entail. Our guess would be improvements to the adaptive cruise control with lane keep assist and autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems, though that spread will likely expand further in the near future with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles recently announcing a partnership with BMW and Intel on furthering self-driving tech.
The particular spec that Maserati have shown off here will supersede the Ghibli Luxury at the top of the range, and that will be premiering today at the Chengdu Motor Show in China, is called the GranLusso. Some interior revisions should also be on the cards, though no changes are predicted in the engine and transmission department, with that served by an 8-speed ZF automatic transmission mated to either a 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel or a bi-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol, with the latter receiving the option of being all-wheel driven.
For more on Maserati, check out our Showroom.
