Firstly, this "official spyshots" game is lame. We don’t know where it started from, but it has spread like wildfire and for the sake of the hype, carmakers are dropping camouflaged teasers of their cars left, right, and center.

Secondly, Maserati is brewing a second SUV/crossover and by the looks of it, this new model going to slot under the Levante and keep some of its styling cues, albeit in a shrunken format.

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Size and proportions-wise, Maserati’s new SUV looks like a baby Levante with its long hood and similarly shaped C-pillar. Maserati tells us it will assemble the Grecale in the same plant that produces the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, so we might see a plethora of bits and bobs shared between the two.

According to Car and Driver, a hybrid version of the Grecale is in the cards and perhaps a full-electric variant coming to market one or two years later. Also probable is a high-performance Trofeo model which for the likes of Ghibli, Quattroporte, and Levante brings a Ferrari-built 3.8-liter twin-turbo engine. It remains to be seen whether Maserati wants or manages to fit the engine inside the smaller Grecale.

Without too many details coming through Maserati’s official voice – the carmaker says more info will be revealed later in 2021, we’ll just have to wait to learn more about the Italian BMW X3 and Porsche Macan fighter.

Given its segment, the Grecale should start at under $50,000, but well kitted high-spec models could easily go above $60,000. We’ll see if that guess was correct or not towards the end of the year. The first Grecales should hit showrooms in early 2022 if Maserati manages to stay on top any delays that might occur.