Even though Maserati Quattroporte is looking better than always these days – maybe because most of the new luxury sedans are boring – that design is like six years old and the Italian company has to change it in order to keep things fresh.

According a report by InsideLine, Maserati will reveal the successor to the Quattroporte at this year’s IAA Frankfurt Motor Show. That is one of the three new models they have in the works to expand their portfolio.

As for the details of the new Quattroporte, insiders reveal that it’s no longer designed by Pininfarina. The car’s designed and developed in-house by Maserati, drawing inspirations from Masser GranTurismo. That’s both good and bad. Good because the GT is a great looking car, and bad because it means the charming looks of the current Quattroporte will be gone. The current model never looked pretty at all, but better than that it always looked exceedingly cool. This is the sort of car a Godfather would drive!

Maserati will also retain the current V8 engine, although they will tweak it for better fuel consumption. Maserati apparently wants to shift the Quattroporte upmarket, to compete with cars like Porsche Panamera, Aston Rapide and Mercedes S65. It’s not like the Quattroporte has been rivaling BMW 3 Series or Mercedes C Class all these years. The Masser is already competing high-end cars in this segment. This idea we think is a trick for Maserati to hike the price a little bit!

Sources also suggest that there will be a sort of discount Quattroporte, an entry-level version of the sports sedan, to compete with BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E Class due in 2014. The third addition to Maserati’s lineup will be the Jeep Cherokee-based crossover.

via: InsideLine