Luxury

Maserati is making dramatic moves in 2020 to boost sales of its vehicles after an abysmal sales year last year that saw Maserati sell only 11,000 models for the entire year. In an effort to boost sales, the Italian automaker is slashing prices for the 2020 models of the Ghibli, Levante, and Quattroporte. Just as important, Maserati is also offering the new Edizione Ribelle special edition units involving the three aforementioned models. Only 225 units of the Edition Ribelle will be built, spread out across the three models. Of that total, 100 units each of the Levante and Ghibli will receive the Edition Ribelle treatment while only 25 units of the Quattroporte will get the same. The limited-production Edizione Ribelle models will hit dealerships this March. Prices for these models are a lot more expensive than their standard edition counterparts, so expect to pay anywhere from $93,285 to $120,985 if you want to get your hands on a Maserati Edizione Ribelle.

A video posted by Chevy Dude, a Youtuber and Chevy Salesman that tends to get a lot of insider information, has brought forth news that Chevy is revoking or canceling C8 Corvette allocations to dealers nationwide. The amount of allocations is said to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 percent. Right off the bat, this sounds troubling, especially if you’ve placed an order, but it’s not as cut and dry as it sounds.

The whole new DeLorean Motor Company situation has been happening for a while. Production of “New” DMC-12s was supposed to start way back in 2017 but due to a delay in the Low Volume Manufacturers Act – an act that allows companies to build up to 325 examples of cars at least 25 years old – all of that has had to go on hold. Now, the act has finally be pushed through and the new DeLorean DMC-12 can finally go into production.

When the Brits’ launched the Tiger 900 recently with more power, aggressive modern styling, brilliant standard specs, and new state-of-the-art riding enhancements, it was the big brother 1200’s stars to shine next.

But Triumph decided to have a swansong attempt instead and has added some fancy trinkets to make their mid-range 1200 XCx and XRx posher and special. It’ll include new paint jobs inspired by the world’s more arid climates and locations, and some fancy equipment that takes the functionality quotient of the already capable machines to new levels.

There’s been a lot of talk regarding what the top-dog Cadillac CT5-V will hide under the hood, with the likely candidate being Caddy’s new Blackwing 4.2-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine. A recent report, however, suggests that the CT5-V range-topper will indeed get a V-8 engine, but it won’t be Blackwing-badged. It’s safe to say we didn’t expect that, but for now, we’re also taking this with a pinch of salt until official word comes from Cadillac to confirm or deny the rumors.

Do you know how fashion is a cyclic affair? What was trendy some decades ago comes back to the highest peaks of popularity? Well, in the car industry, this sort of thing sometimes happens for old reports.

Take the one claiming that BMW is looking to build a rival for the Porsche 911. It was floated on the Internet back in 2016, together with the info that the 6 Series will be phased out to make room for the new 8 Series. So far, only the 6 Series-8 Series swap found fruition, but we’re getting some signals that a BMW-badged rival for the 911 isn’t something Munich will vote against.

These days, tuners will slap a wide body kit on pretty much everything that has four wheels, and while some cars are suited for such a treatment, other are not.

The Lexus LC500 falls in the first category, but fitting it with wider wheel arches and beefier bumpers might not be for everyone. I mean, should you ask for our two cents, we’d tell you that the LC500 is design perfection in stock guise. However, we’re glad that there are voices who beg to differ.

MV Agusta built the Rush 1000 with a single purpose in mind: drag strip domination. The factory took its 200-plus horsepower Brutale engine and mounted it in a bike that, in true dragster tradition, carries only what is needed to function. No weight is wasted on superfluous equipment or body panels to convert as many of those ponies as possible into brute acceleration. Those weight-savings measures extend to the engine and include the use of titanium to reduce the reciprocating mass of the mill and deliver faster revs. The electronics suite is all about that drag-tastic life to deliver the safety and control you’ll need to manage the power and keep the thing rubber-side down.

AC Schnitzer knows its way around BMW models. That knowledge comes in handy when we’re talking about a comprehensive aftermarket program for one of Bimmer’s resident performance crossovers, the X3 M.

You’re probably thinking the same thing. The X3 M already has 510 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. It doesn’t need more power than what it already has, right? Well, don’t tell that to AC Schnitzer. The German tuner isn’t interested in what’s already there; it’s in the business of imagining what it could become and bringing that scenario to life. The product of all that is this extensive tuning program that not only adds a slew of aerodynamic improvements to the X3 M, but, more importantly, also adds more power to what is already a powerful performance workhorse.

AC Schnitzer hasn’t announced pricing details for the X3 M Competition program, but rest assured, expect to pay somewhere in the vicinity of $20,000 to $30,000 for the program alone.

Ford took the Mustang name and slapped it on a crossover, albeit of the electric ilk, together with the Mach-E badge. So, the obvious question was whether Chevrolet will do the same with one of its nameplates, and the Corvette, not the Camaro, was forwarded as a potential name for a high-riding Chevy.

Of course, Chevy might or might not build a Corvette-based SUV, but if it did, what would it look like? One answer comes from TheSketchMonkey, and to put it frankly, we kind of like what we’re seeing. Should we feel bad about it?

There are only a handful of companies in the world that have a reputation and rich heritage like Roush. Roush has been in performance engineering since 1976. The company’s founder, Jack Roush, had a drag racing team in the early 70s, so you can be assured of the quality of work on Roush-modded trucks. Roush has been associated with Ford for decades now and has created a lot of trucks for the Blue Oval. Its latest creation is the Roush F-150 5.11 Tactical Edition. The truck is powered by the same Coyote V-8 engine, but in a different power tune and with few more add-ons to make it an absolute beast. Roush brought the truck to the 2020 SHOT Show in Las Vegas and announced that the production will be limited to merely 150 examples. Talk about exclusivity here!

Does launch control make sense in a BMW or a Mercedes-Benz? Hell, yeah. Does it still make sense when that BMW is the X7 or the Mercedes is a GLC, albeit AMG-badged? Well, we don’t think so. But the year is 2020 and SUVs are desperately trying to do everything right, so launch control setups on family haulers are not that upsetting anymore. Or are they?

The drag race you’re about to see is not necessarily the most balanced and fair we’ve ever witnessed. But that’s not the point, as the video is (another) good indicator of just how freakishly quick (and fast) SUVs have become and how this shift in character is hurting sports cars and sedans.

While the Tesla Model S has its hands full dealing with the all-electric Porsche Taycan (not when it comes to range, though), the Model 3 has been pitted against the 2020 Porsche 911 by the fellas over at Carwow.

We know, we know, and they do too, these two are not exactly direct rivals and the differences between them aren’t only related to how they generate power and torque. The 911 is rear-wheel-driven, while the Model 3 spins all four wheels. The EV is also a tad more powerful and quicker off the line, but the Neunelfer packs a mean Launch Control feature and is, after all, a purely-bred sports car.