Could Maserati Bring Back the Manual Transmission to Exotic Italian Sports Cars? originally appeared on Autoblog.
A stick to help save a trident
If you’re Maserati right now, you’re in the throes of sales pain. Maserati’s sales slide looks more like an avalanche, and it shows no signs of letting up. In the first quarter of 2025, the brand reported a 48 percent year-over-year decline, selling a scant 1,700 vehicles. Before that, it plummeted by 57 percent in 2024. That's so bad, it almost feels intentional. The new CEO of Maserati, Santo Ficili, knows that 2025 will be a difficult year as he restructures the brand and aims for a turnaround next year. Part of that turnaround might involve a manual transmission flagship GT car. We gotta say, we didn't see this coming.
It seems it’s more than just a rumor, and it’s not a total surprise given the fact that buyers of supercars and hypercars are growing tired of electrification and automatic transmissions that tend to rob drivers of engagement. Outright speed and acceleration just aren’t enough, apparently. An old-school manual transmission might just be the trick to get more buyers into Maserati showrooms. One of the last Maseratis with a manual was the 2005 Maserati Coupe GT with a 390-hp Ferrari-built V8 mated to a six-speed manual transmission. It wasn’t exactly a looker, but the spirit of old-school Maseratis was still alive within.
Could it be true, a manual Maserati?
Davide Danesin, Head of Maserati Engineering, made an important statement in an interview with Autocar. “By doing a purely mechanical car, it does make sense to have a mechanical gearbox with a shifter,” Danesin informed Autocar. “So why not? It fulfils the brand perfectly. It fulfils perfectly our approach and mindset. So honestly, I think one day we’ll do it.”
While there are no specific details about the project, it will likely be a special run of limited-production cars built in collaboration with Alfa Romeo. “We built the 4C and 8C in Modena, so why not?” said Ficili. He went on to say, “We can imagine a ‘few-off’ Maserati. It’s easy, because you can look at the past of these two brands, and you can find a nice car like the 33 Stradale, and we can invent something like this.”
The last Alfa collab was the stunning and iconic Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione built between 2007 and 2010. That car put Alfa back on the map. It’s also a possibility that Maserati will use its own Nettuno V6 engine that’s presently in the Granturismo, Grecale, and the new MC20. If that’s the case, the new flagship GT would probably crest above the 621 horsepower and 538 lb-ft of torque output in the MCPura.
Another sign that a manual ICE Maserati GT could happen is that Maserati recently canceled the electric MC20 due to poor demand and a cooling EV market, most notably among hypercars. Every brand, not just mainstream ones, is reconsidering and revamping its electrification strategies. Ferrari and Lamborghini aren’t the only ones putting on the brakes and taking a second look at their plans.
Final thoughts
Maserati will need more than a manual transmission supercar to turn things around, but it will certainly get the public’s attention, and that’s a very good thing. The MC20 didn’t sell like gangbusters, and who knows what the MCPura will do for the brand. Maserati could still end up on the chopping block when all is said and done. What the brand really needs is better styling and build quality for its mainstream vehicles like the Grecale. It could revive the Levante and the Quattroporte, but they would both need a full redesign, and Stellantis might not want to commit to that. Let’s hope Maserati lasts long enough to show the world a new manual transmission supercar. That would be something else.
Could Maserati Bring Back the Manual Transmission to Exotic Italian Sports Cars? first appeared on Autoblog on Jul 31, 2025
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Jul 31, 2025, where it first appeared.
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