Maserati’s new mid-size saloon, the Ghibli, is finally upon us. The first reviews are all very positive – which frankly is a bit surprising, given the fact that the only reason the Ghibli is here is because Maser wants to accomplish their goal of selling 50,000 cars a year by 2015.

So we thought they would just put together something rubbish and make it cheap so they can meet that number. A lot of us still remember the BiTurbo sedan of the Eighties, and what a miserable failure that thing was.

But no. Maserati has come up with a winner. A lot of people are saying the Ghibli may very well be better than the new Quattroporte. It looks just as interesting; it is cheaper; it is more economical; and it has a much better interior. One thing’s for sure though: the Ghibli is a proper Maserati.

The baby Maser launches with a couple of three engines, including two twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol engines, and one diesel. The model everybody is going to want is the Ghibli S, which has 301 kW (410 hp) of power, goes to 62mph in 5.0  seconds and reaches a top speed of 177mph (285km/h). The diesel meanwhile is the choice of Eco-minded Maserati buyers, with an average fuel consumption of 47mpg (below 6 l/100km) on the NEDC combined cycle. There will also be a Q4 all-wheel-drive version available.

Maserati recently released a very huge gallery of new Ghibli pictures. As usual, we handpicked the best of them for your viewing pleasure: