The 2017 Maserati Levante, an Italian SUV with a name that’s all like LEVANTE!, apparently has a lot of parts that are from a pickup trup with a name like, well, Ram. Also, according to our own David Tracy, former Fiat Chrysler engineer, they look very similar to parts in the Chrysler 200.
It might not be exactly based off of a Jeep Grand Cherokee, but just imagine getting into your new LEVANTE!, with a name almost-but-not-quite-entirely-as-good as KuBANG!, and your gilded Italian fingers coming to rest across the same peasant plastic that graces those of a simple, good, salt-of-the-Earth work truck for the People.
Obviously, that will not do at all.
We’re not against the idea of parts-sharing entirely. It makes a lot of business sense, and when done well, it’s great. Take Mercedes, for example. Its idea of “parts-sharing” involves making the same monstrous AMG V8 available in damn near all its cars, and there’s no way we’re going to complain about that. Its ever-so-cromulent van, the Metris, is positively filled to the brim with parts out of the common bin. But those parts actually come straight off the S-Class megayacht, so you get an oddly-sized cargo van with perfectly crafted aluminum window toggles.
Good on you, Mercedes. Parts should trickle down, not up.