Italian luxury car manufacturer Maserati announced a 252 percent increase in 2014 sales in the South-East Asia and Pacific region (SEAP) compared to the same period in the previous year. The growth was driven by the launch of the new Ghibli, Maserati’s first four-door sports executive sedan, and the brand’s flagship model, the Quattroporte. The Ghibli accounted for just over 60 percent of retail sales in the region.

The GranCabrio and GranTurismo sports car models continued to sell well, pushed by the introduction of the 100 years of Maserati Centennial Edition.

Maserati’s four-wheel drive system, Q4, was introduced on the Ghibli and Quattroporte sedan models and gained particular popularity in the South Korean market. The launch leads up to the global market entry of the highly anticipated Maserati Levante, the Italian marque’s first luxury sports SUV, in 2016.

The strongest performing markets in the region in terms of sales volume were South Korea, taking 36 percent of the overall market and growing by a further 469 percent, followed by Australia (+207% growth). All other markets of the SEAP region also registered strong growth rates, in double and even triple digits.

Maserati’s sales and service infrastructure was further developed through the launch of a new importer in Indonesia, the opening of a combined sales and service facility in Melbourne (Australia) and new service facilities in Busan and Bundang (South Korea). New showrooms for Singapore and Sydney, Australia were completed at the end of 2014 and will celebrate their official opening early this year.

On a global level, Maserati sold approximately 36,500 cars worldwide in 2014, an increase of 136% compared to 2013 and almost six times the sales figure for 2012.

“With the new Quattroporte and Ghibli, we were able to grow significantly compared to only a few years ago where we sold just over 6,000 vehicles per year worldwide. The most important launch for the SEAP region in 2015 will be a further addition to the Quattroporte range, the new Quattroporte with 330 hp. With the Levante, our first ever luxury sports SUV, arriving in the course of next year, we are committed to our target of selling 75,000 cars per annum by 2018. However, in a global car market of around 70 million vehicles sold per year, Maserati will, without question, remain very exclusive indeed.” explains Maserati Global Overseas Markets Managing Director, Umberto Cini.