One of the highly coveted classic Italian cars, Maserati has been using Ferrari’s engines since 2001. Both of them have shared many engines in the past like 3-liter twin-turbo V6, 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8, 4.7-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine, etc. To be honest, Ferrari's engines have been one of the most compelling reasons to buy a Maserati. This started when Fiat sold the luxury brand’s control in the 90s. However, Ferrari kept building engines for them even after Maserati came back under the FCA hood. But, things are about to change now, apparently due to recurrent low sales volume of the Mas models. Ferrari’s first Quarter Earnings call revealed lately that their engines will exclusively belong to Ferrari, and eventually they will stop supplying engines.

In Nov 2019, the company announced that it won’t be making engines for Maserati anymore. According to the company's quarter analysis phone transcript put online by the Motley Fool, Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri has confirmed that Mas is not willing to renew their contract after the current one gets over. Everything falls into place if you believe the hushed reports doing the rounds. Our sources say that a few days before the revelation, Maserati had presented a plan that they would be making their own engines. However, there has been no official statement or a clear plan from them as of now.

But, why does Maserati use Ferrari engines in the first place? Why has Ferrari decided to stop the age-old arrangement now? Read through the end for all the juicy details of this interesting story.

When Maserati Was Owned By Ferrari, It Was Cost Effective To Use Ferrari Engines

Once upon a time, Maserati used to be a rival of Ferrari. This was the late 90s when Fiat owned both Ferrari and Mas. In July 1997, Fiat sold 50% of its stake in Maserati to Ferrari and by 1999, they took over complete control over the Italian luxury brand. As a result, Maserati which used to be a competitor became a sort of a luxury division of the prancing horse. Only the problem was that it didn't make sense to develop separate engines since both the brands were essentially owned by the same company now; so, they decided to build one engine that would fit in with both the models. This is the primary (and official) reason why Maserati started using Ferrari engines.

Being controlled by Ferrari, initially, Maserati had no other option either. Moreover, the engines were actually popular among buyers and helped in sales hence they continued the partnership even after splitting up. Although a Ferrari engine was definitely a selling point for the Italian brand, over the years, their cars gradually became more prone to depreciation and low-reliability ratings which brings us to a super interesting case study.

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Since Ferrari Could Control The Competition And Simultaneously Make A Profit Too

Maserati Levante - Wikiwand
via: Wikiwand

In 2001, the first Ferrari-powered Maserati, the Mas Coupe debuted following which launched the Maserati Spyder. The cars were equipped with a 4.2 liter Naturally Aspirated V8 engine which churned 385 horsepower and 333-pound feet of torque. This engine was only available in two options: six-speed manual transmission and a six-speed automated manual transmission. As evident from the name, the automated manual was technically just a manual transmission with an electric controller doing the shifting for you. These transmissions were neither reliable nor did they age well. Now, the funny thing is the same engine has featured in the Maseratis from 2001 to 2019 which essentially means that this 18-year-old engine has been largely unchanged and hardly updated.

In 2003, in spite of getting an F136 engine, the Quattroporte did not get a standard automatic transmission. In 2004, the Grand Sport came along. Unfortunately, it did not have a six-speed manual (again an automated manual transmission was provided instead). Moreover, its engine barely received a 10hp upgrade making the total output to 395 horsepower. In the same year, Ferrari launched the F 430 in which the same engine was bumped up to hit 483hp, around 100hp more than the unfortunate Mas Grand Sport. In 2013 when another major Ferrari engine update happened with the F 154, Maserati was once again handed the shorter end of the stick. So, while Ferrari kept getting upgraded engines, Maserati had to make do with severely toned-down versions of the same engine which also depreciated at an alarming rate.

It seems Ferrari gave all the necessary power to their own cars. Now, this is just speculation but it makes sense. Why would Ferrari want its competitor to have more juice? The age-old arrangement was an easy way to keep the competition in check.

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Why Stop Now?

Maserati Quattroporte Royale edition announced at £103,150
via: Motor1.com UK

If things were going great for Ferrari, why would they stop providing engines to Maserati? The reason is sales. The iconic Italian brand is struggling and apparently, Ferrari has decided to pull the plug. But, if all this is on Maserati which certainly has a stronger possibility, this is either a suicidal move or they have some master plan up their sleeves. Either way looks like we are in on some serious Maserati action. For the uninitiated, they used to design their own racing engines (which were badass, to say the least) in the past. Maserati’s engines were known for their power, performance, and reliability, especially the V8 which was the highlight of the cars like Ghibli 1, Maserati 5000 GT, Quattroporte 1/3, etc. Now, it looks like they're headed in the right direction with the Nettuno engine in the new MC20 supercar.

NEXT: Maserati's New Ultimate Two Seater: Here's What We Know About The MC20