Unlike Ferrari, Maserati’s New Customization Program Won’t Reject Odd Tastes

Maserati announced its all-new customization service Wednesday, which aims to bring a fresh and innovative take on the storied brand’s sports cars and SUVs. Called Fuoriserie or “out of series,” the program mirrors what other ultra-luxury automakers are doing to appeal to ultra high-end buyers. More importantly, however, Maserati won’t be limiting its color palettes and designs to what it thinks is acceptable (ahem, Ferrari), but instead working alongside the customer to create the Maserati of their dreams.

In a virtual reveal of the Fuoriserie program, the automaker’s top executives told us that Maserati won’t restrict customers’ odd tastes. Of course, there will always be certain things that simply can’t be done, but this will mostly be due to strict safety and quality controls.

“The decision to proceed or not with a customer’s request will be based on considering safety, and secondly, quality,” global head of Fuoriseries Davide Baldini told The Drive. “If we are doing a study and we are sure that the quality of an interior material or finish will be OK for the customer and we will not have an issue in the future, we can go ahead. Otherwise, we cannot. Our process is to protect the customer, the customer experience, and the customer investment.”

Maserati’s Maranello neighbor, Ferrari, has long been known to be very protective of its products even after they’ve been sold. CEO Benedetto Vigna recently made headlines when he said that he will reject customers’ choices in order “to defend the values and the identity of the brand.” He also added that Ferrari “will not make a strange car, for sure.”

The point worth highlighting here is that one person’s idea of strange is potentially someone else’s idea of normal. Maserati isn’t holding back, giving customers their opportunity to customize every aspect of their car but making it more approachable by offering them two different paths: Catalogue and Bespoke. The former is for lighter customization, per se, mostly involving thousands of color combinations, materials, unique touches, etc. The latter involves tailor-made cars, where customers create one-of-one models with designs that stretch beyond color combinations.

And while Ferrari refuses to build pink cars directly from the factory, Maserati has no such problem.

“We will build a pink car, and in fact, we have built a pink car for a customer,” Maserati’s global head of design Klaus Busse told The Drive. “There might be legal or ethical concerns [in the case of some materials like animal skins or other resources], but we’ve never gotten to that point with any customers.

“Our job is really to show our clients empathy and understanding through the design process, to deliver what they desire and go through that journey with him or her. Along that journey is to make sure—not so much that Maserati is protected—but that the customer is protected. We make sure that they don’t choose something they will regret three months or three years down the road. It’s a lot of curation and a lot of advice.”

These custom cars are built in a dedicated corner of the brand’s Modena factory, where only the most experienced craftsmen get to bring customers’ creations to life. During the presentation, Baldini proudly proclaimed that Fuoriserie cars never feature any stickers or decals, as everything is painted either by hand or machine, depending on the specifics of the design.

The Fuoriserie program is available for all trims of the MC20 supercar, Gran Turismo grand tourer, and Grecale SUV.

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