Stepping onto the Octane carpet…

The word ‘Hybrid’ isn’t usually the first one we expect to see written alongside Maserati.

And perhaps that is precisely why it’s worth reading on.

This Levante GT Hybrid wasn’t created to turn a Maserati into a household appliance.

It was created to adapt a deeply emotional brand to an era that has begun to demand a little more rationality.

Without taking away what really matters.

The presence…

The personality…

And that enormous Trident in the centre of a grille that remains impossible to overlook.

This car was first registered new in Portugal in April 2022, has had just one owner and currently has around 101,000 km on the clock.

And perhaps that last figure even deserves some explanation.

The market is full of cars with low mileage that have spent much of their lives standing still…

Not this one. This one did exactly what an SUV of this calibre was built to do: it travelled.

And it arrives today looking as though it proves that high mileage and poor maintenance are two completely different things.

Dark exterior…

Black leather interior…

Panoramic sunroof…

Large alloy wheels…

Blue brake calipers...

And those subtle blue accents on Maserati’s three traditional side vents, which discreetly reveal that this is no ordinary model.

Under the bonnet lies a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, paired with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system, delivering a total power output of around 330 cv.

There’s no spec sheet…

There’s no range anxiety…

And nobody needs to go looking for a charging point before heading out for dinner.

The electric system is there primarily to help the internal combustion engine run more efficiently and respond better.

In other words, it’s a hybrid for those who don’t want to have to think too much about the fact that they’ve bought a hybrid.

And that may be exactly what many customers are looking for.

The driving position remains high...

All-wheel drive is still there...

The automatic gearbox is still ready for long journeys…

And on the centre console, there are still buttons labelled:

SPORT…

OFF ROAD…

ICE…

Because, fortunately, nobody in Modena seems to have been told to replace everything with a menu hidden inside a tablet.

Then there’s the trickier question… why a Levante?

Because, rationally speaking, there are more obvious choices…

Cayenne,

X5,

GLE,

Range Rover Sport,

All excellent…

But also all rather predictable.

The Maserati is for someone who, faced with a row of German premium SUVs in a car park, still likes to be able to spot their own straight away.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

After all, buying a car with your heart doesn’t necessarily mean leaving your brain at home.

It still offers five seats, a usable boot, comfort for long journeys, all-wheel drive and engineering that’s far more sensible than the size of the Trident on the grille might suggest.

Perhaps the best way to explain this Levante is as follows…

Maserati has managed to make it more rational without making the mistake of making it completely sensible.

And thank goodness for that...

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Editor’s Note:

For years, car manufacturers were asked to reduce fuel consumption, emissions and engine capacity…

Then, when they started doing so, we complained that the cars had lost their personality.

Yes… We’re a difficult lot.

Maserati’s solution was very Italian…

It made a few concessions to reason… but left the Trident nice and big on the grille.

It seems to us to be a perfectly acceptable compromise.