Who owns Maserati?

Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer based in Modena, Italy. The company was founded in Dec 1914 by the Maserati brothers, Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore, and Ernesto. Alfieri, Bindo, and Ernesto developed Grand Prix cars for Diatto. The brothers produced the first Maserati in 1926 after Diatto suspended its racecar manufacturing venture. Alfieri won the 1926 Targa Florio in a Maserati car.

Maserati made history in racing by beating German giants Auto Union and Mercedes. In 1939 and 1940, Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500 back-to-back. Maserati is the only Italian manufacturer to achieve this fete. In Oct 2023, the brand revealed the Maserati Tipo Folgore as its Season 10 challenger in the FIA Formula E World Championship. [1]

Maserati produces elegant, stylish, and high-performance luxury cars and sells them in over 70 markets globally. The automaker offers Quattroporte, GranTurismo, Ghibli, Levante, and Grecale. The Ghibli is a sports sedan, while the Levante and the Grecale are SUVs.

These three models have gas-powered and hybrid versions. In Oct 2022, Maserati presented the new GranTurismo coupé. It is the first Maserati to adopt a 100% electric powertrain. [2]

Maserati is known as the House of the Trident because of the brand’s trident emblem. The company is focused on electrifying its cars.

In Apr 2023, the automaker unveiled the Maserati Grecale Folgore at the Shanghai Auto Show. It is the brand’s first all-electric SUV. Maserati plans to develop all-electric versions for all its models by 2025 and electrify its entire range by 2030. But who owns Maserati? [3]

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Who is Maserati’s Parent Company?

Maserati is owned by Stellantis NV, a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation. Stellantis is based in Hoofddorp, Netherlands. In Jan 2021, Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Peugeot’s maker PSA Group merged to form Stellantis.

The merger consolidated 14 FCA and PSA car brands under Stellantis, creating the world’s fourth-largest auto manufacturing corporation. In 2023, Stellantis sold 1.527 million vehicles, down 1% from 2022. Its plug-in hybrid EV sales increased 124%. [4]

Stellantis is the parent company of 14 iconic brands, including Maserati, Fiat, Chrysler, Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, Vauxhall, Abarth, DS, and Lancia. The 109-year-old Maserati accounts for about 1% of Stellantis’ annual revenue.

In FY 2022, Maserati adopted an ambitious electrification plan after posting its second profitable year. The brand seeks to leverage Stellantis’ immense capital to improve its luxury strategy and double its profit margins. [5]

Stellantis is implementing a multifaceted strategy through Dare Forward 2030 to strengthen its global electrification ecosystem. The parent company has delivered the Maserati GranTurismo Folgore and Grecale Folgore SUV to the market. In 2023, Stellantis opened a new battery tech facility in Turin, Italy.

The company acquired 33.3% of Symbio to secure its leadership position in hydrogen-powered vehicles, concluded eFuels testing with Aramco, and partnered with Saft to unveil the Intelligent Battery Integrated System. [6]

Although Stellantis has invested in Maserati’s electrification plan, several factors threaten the implementation. The parent company had promised to deliver the new all-electric Maserati Quattroporte by 2025. In Jan 2024, Stellantis announced a three-year delay on the Maserati Quattroporte to 2028. The all-electric Maserati Levante SUV has also been delayed for two years until 2027. [7]

Maserati’s Ownership History

The Maserati brothers are the original founders and owners of Maserati. They designed the first Maserati car and the trident emblem. In 1937, the Maserati brothers sold the company to the Adolfo Orsi family.

The Orsi era delivered iconic Maserati models, including the 3500 GT, Quattroporte, 1961 Tipo, and Ghibli SS. In Jun 2023, Maserati displayed the 1962 3500 GT and 1961 Tipo 63 at the 11^th Le Mans Classic. Both participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans when the Orsi owned Maserati. [8]

Citroën took over Maserati in 1968. However, Citroën went bankrupt six years later and was incorporated into PSA Peugeot. In Aug 1975, the Italian government passed Maserati from Citroën to state-owned firm GEPI and Alejandro de Tomaso. De Tomaso acquired GEPI’s quota in 1989, becoming Maserati’s sole owner. Then, he sold 49% of Maserati to Fiat Auto and retained a 51% stake.

De Tomaso and Fiat co-owned Maserati for four years. In May 1993, de Tomaso sold his 51% stake in Maserati to Fiat. This deal made Fiat the sole owner. Fiat purchased a majority stake in Chrysler in 2011.

Fiat also owned Ferrari, Maserati’s long-time arch-rival. In Jul 1997, Fiat sold a 50% share in Maserati to Ferrari. Ferrari increased its stake and adopted Maserati as its luxury division. Both companies remained under Fiat’s ownership. [9]

Ferrari built a new Maserati factory and developed iconic Maserati models, including the GranTurismo, GranCabrio, and MC12 roadster. These cars helped Maserati conquer the US market and reenter the racing arena. By 2019, Maserati had sold 40,000 GranTurismo and GranCabrio vehicles. [10]

Fiat restructured its portfolio in 2005 and created the Fiat Group. In 2014, the Fiat Group merged with Chrysler to form Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). Maserati became an FCA subsidiary for seven years. In 2021, the FCA merged with the French PSA Group to create Stellantis.

This deal transferred Maserati’s ownership to Stellantis. In Feb 2024, Stellantis slowed down operations at its Mirafiori plant in Italy due to weak market demand for all-electric Fiat and Maserati models. [11]

Image Credit Harm van de Ven — Image Credit: Harm van de Ven

Maserati’s Shareholder Structure

Maserati is a wholly-owned Stellantis subsidiary. Its shares were integrated into Stellantis after the 2021 FCA-PSA merger. As of Dec 2023, Stellantis offered 208,622 Stock A shares with one vote and 3,023,209,547 Stock B shares with one vote. The Stock B share class also includes 2,390,718,332 free-float shares. The 208,622 Stock A shares are 100% company-owned. [12]

Stellantis’ shareholders structure has institutional, private, and public investors. As of 2023, Exor NV was Stellantis’ largest shareholder, with 14.9% of shares. Exor is the Agnelli family’s investment holding firm, led by John Elkann, the grandson of Fiat founder Gianni Agnelli. Elkann is Exor CEO and Stellantis Chairman.

The Agnelli family owns 52% of Exor shares and 85.4% of voting rights, giving them control over Stellantis. [13] Peugeot is Stellantis’ second-largest shareholder with a 7% stake, followed by French state-owned Bpifrance investment bank at 6.39%.

Stellantis was founded after French PSA merged with Italian FCA. It represents iconic Italian car brands like Maserati, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Lancia. Yet, France has a stake and representatives in Stellantis, but Italy doesn’t.

This issue has strained Italy’s relationship with the company. In Jan 2024, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni blasted Stellantis for French bias. The PM also complained about Stellantis’ efforts to migrate car manufacturing jobs from Italy to lower-cost countries. [14]

Dongfeng was the fourth-largest Stellantis shareholder, with 3.1% of shares in 2022. The Chinese automaker submitted a request to Stellantis in Jul 2022 to sell 50 million shares. In Nov 2023, Stellantis repurchased Dongfeng’s 50 million common shares worth €934 million. The transaction reduced Dongfeng’s stake in Stellantis to 1.58%. [15]

Stellantis is a public company with 69.9% of its Stock B shares listed as free float. Its free-float shares are traded on the Milan, Paris, and New York stock exchanges. As of Dec 2022, public investors held 69.9% of Stellantis shares. [16]

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