Porsche has been dominating the sports car market for such a long time that Maserati is finally ready to take the outright crown from them with rumors emerging that Maserati is developing a brand new mid-engined sports car to compete with the 911->ke282 likely to share various performance aspects with the Ferrari 458 Italia->ke3479.

Maserati is clearly on the rise and even though the Italian economy may be struggling, the brand hopes to bring a new SUV->ke334 into the market in the next few years, while a facelifted version of the Quattroporte is also in the works. Additionally, Maserati may offer its own version of the Alfa Romeo 4C sports car which it’s helping to produce, so things are definitely looking positive at Maserati.

Many companies have tried and failed to compete with the Porsche 911 in terms of driver involvement, and with the next Porsche 911 GT3 said to retain a six-speed manual transmission, Maserati certainly has its work cut out for it. Rumors were initially fueled by comments made by Maserati’s CEO Harald J. Wester about the possibility of reviving the GranSport name.

As we’re sure you know, the GranSport was the predecessor to the GranTurismo but if the car were to use the GranSport name, it’d differ in almost every other aspect. First and foremost, it’s likely to feature a mid-engined V-8 powerplant like those found in the Audi R8->ke1440 and Ferrari 458 Italia, but so as to not enrage Ferrari, it’s said to be priced below the 458 Italia hinting that it won’t be a true competitor to it.

If this car does come to fruition, it could share components with the 458 Italia but is unlikely to debut anytime before 2014.

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