Geneva 2016: Maserati Levante teased ahead of show debut

Maserati’s first-ever SUV, the Levante was first showcased in concept form four years ago. It was expected to show up at the 2016 Detroit Motor Show, but Maserati chose to push the unveiling of the production version to the 2016 Geneva Motor Show next month. And now, the Italian carmaker has released the first teaser of the Levante.

From what we can decipher from the suitably dark teaser image, the production version of the Levante closely mirrors what we’ve already seen in the patent sketches earlier. The front end is defined by a large hexagonal grille that's placed upside down compared to Audis. This makes the Levante look like it's angry. The headlights connect to the grille, and their LED brow contributes to this angry look.

The Levante will be offered with a range of biturbo V6 and V8 engines sourced from the Quattroporte, but possibly with a different state of tune. Maserati’s first SUV will obviously be available with the company’s proprietary Q4 all-wheel drive system working together with ZF’s eight-speed automatic transmission.

No other styling details are visible, but with less than two weeks remaining for the Geneva Auto Show premiere, we won't have to wait long to see the Levante in full detail. SUVs like the Audi A2, Skoda Vision S and SEAT Ateca will also be present at the Geneva show.