In The Driver's Seat.(Business)(Maserati)

Byline: Barbie Nadeau

Not long ago Maserati was nearly bankrupt. Now it's growing fast while sales of the big three German luxury carmakers are falling. How'd that happen?

If Maserati's sleek Quattroporte sports car looks vaguely familiar, it should. In the last few years, the car has made guest appearances in hit TV shows like "Desperate Housewives," "The Sopranos" and "Nip/Tuck." The Quattroporte has also made a coveted appearance in the Neiman Marcus holiday catalogue, which resulted in a sellout of 60 limited-edition coupes. Movie producer Jerry Weintraub recently bought his own Maserati Quattroporte to use as a prop in "Ocean's 13." CEO Roberto Ronchi says Maserati's goal is "to always create the demand for five cars more than we can create," and these days it's hitting that mark, easily.

Five cars may not sound like much, but when they go for up to $150,000 a pop, it adds up. The positive press has been a big shift for this suddenly sexy Modena, Italy-based carmaker, which, until a few years ago, was tottering on the verge of bankruptcy. After a string of near-ruinous management decisions and bad designs, Maserati actually stopped selling in the U.S. market (currently its largest). Now, thanks to an infusion of cash from its new owner, Fiat, and an edgy new design aimed at boomer banker types who consider Mercedes too common and Bentleys too pricey or stuffy, Maserati is back on the fast track. This year, Quattroporte global sales increased by 29.8 percent, while competitors like the Audi A8 fell 31 percent and both Mercedes S-Class and 7 Series fell 18 percent. The slumps have been blamed on American housing-market woes -- historically, luxury car sales track the housing market rather than stock prices. Maserati has succeeded by positioning itself as more of a bespoke luxury good than just an upscale car, appealing to higher end consumers less pinched by the credit crisis.

The turnaround hasn't yet affected Fiat's bottom line, but it has bolstered its stock price -- analysts say that the increase from €4.53 in 2005 to more than €20 today is due in part to renewed investor confidence following the Maserati revamp (Fiat is now trying to orchestrate a similar turnaround with its namesake cars, as well as Alfa Romeo). Maserati is a niche brand, to be sure -- it will likely sell 7,000 cars in 2007, compared with BMW's expected 1.6 million. Yet, its global growth has outpaced those competitors by 50 percent this year, in large part because of its exclusivity. The Quattroporte and the new GranTurismo, which just hit the streets in October, are increasingly seen as exotic alternatives to the big three German cars, now deemed too commonplace in America and Europe (rather like Louis Vuitton handbags, which lost their luster after being toted by one too many secretaries). Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury ...