[St.Who]

The first Maserati Kubang concept vehicle was was brought to the 2003 Detroit Auto Show. Maserati said about the earlier iteration of the Kubang, "At a time in which few other brands were going in the direction of a sport luxury SUV, Maserati was already thinking to build one." Of course then Maserati dragged its feet and let its competitors come out with SUVs like the Land Rover Range Rover Sport, BMW X5 and X6 M, Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, etc...

Perhaps it is because Maserati now has access to the Grand Cherokee platform because of its position within the Fiat group, but now Maserati is ready to actually put the Kubang into production as the Levante.

Other than the change in name though, the Levante seems to be pretty much the same as the Levante. I guess Kubang just wasn't a very good name (which I completely agree with.)

 

[Maverick]

I don't think there are many changes made to the Kubang in its journey to becoming the production Levante. The exterior of the car looks pretty much exactly the same. I'm sure there are some changes to the interior and the options that are available, but really it is basically the same vehicle.

Kubang

Levante

 

[St.Who]

It seems like the only change to the Kubang was the name. And this is understandable since Levante is a much more appealing name than Kubang. Kubang sounds like it could be the name of a Street Fighter character, whereas Levante is more along the lines of luxury vehicle names. Kudos to Maserati for actually naming its vehicles instead of just resorting to letter/number combinations.

Do you guys know of any other changes made to the Kubang as it turns into the Levante and gets ready for production?

 

[pitchfork]

So what has changed between the Kubang and Levante? Now that we know more about the Levante.

 

[mavante]

the tail lights wont be the same, Kubang has more concept car like tails that differs greatly from what a production levante will have

 

[St.Who]

I don't see why the taillights on the Kubang couldn't make it to production for the Levante. They look like regular tail lights to me. Why exactly do you think they won't make production @mavante?

 

[pitchfork]

did the Levante photo dissapear?

 

[mavante]

I don't see why the taillights on the Kubang couldn't make it to production for the Levante. They look like regular tail lights to me. Why exactly do you think they won't make production @mavante?

i dont know why either
they could have kept the overall design and just put in a cheaper lighting system if cost was an issue.

 

[pitchfork]

the photos dont load for me..

i thought the kubang was the levante

all the photos of the levante are of the kubang.

 

[Maverick]

Well they are basically one in the same. They just renamed the Kubang to the Levante once they decided to put it into production. There will be slight changes though.

 

[pitchfork]

Will it be called Levante globally?

 

[mavante]

Will it be called Levante globally?

Likely. This is more likely to happen when a car maker releases the same vehicle in other nations under a different brand they own. Which Maserati doesn't.

 

[pitchfork]

ahh good to know
wonder why they chose kubang than.

 

[mavante]

ahh good to know
wonder why they chose kubang than.

that was the concept name.
i know car makers have codenames for their concepts which are never used on production cars.

 

[pitchfork]

that is true. levante sounds better anways.

 

[mavante]

that is true. levante sounds better anways.

It's also more inline with the rest of their vehicles names, such as:

• Ghibli
• QuattroPorte

Kubang just doesn't sound right

 

[pitchfork]

No it doesn't

Don't think anything with the word Bang sounds right in a car lol

 

[mavante]

No it doesn't

Don't think anything with the word Bang sounds right in a car lol

thats what im saying, kubang doesn't sound right.
best to leave it as a name for a concept and not use it on anything else.

 

[pitchfork]

this car needs to hurry up and come out! jump on the Maserati train!

 

[mavante]

this car needs to hurry up and come out! jump on the Maserati train!

Be patient, it won't happen for a while, but still soon enough. At least once it's out it will be the coolest SUV to hit the market.