In fact, the luxury-sport crossover will be built on the same platform as the Grand Cherokee, and will be assembled on the same line at Chrysler's Jefferson North plant in Detroit. In essence, the new Maserati CUV will have several sperm donors, including Mercedes-Benz, which co-developed the architecture that underpins the Grand Cherokee and its own M-Class.

But don't expect to find a Chrysler Hemi V8 under the hood. Marchionne said at the Detroit auto show that the SUV will be powered by a Ferrari twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 making upwards of 500 hp.

"If it doesn't have a Ferrari block, it isn't a Maserati," Marchionne insisted at the Detroit show. "I could have used a supercharged Hemi, but then it wouldn't have been an authentic Maserati."

To strengthen at least this portion of its heritage, Maserati has brought in Paolo Martinelli to head powertrain development. Martinelli formerly headed engine development for Ferrari's Formula 1 team.

Fiat, which controls both the Ferrari and Maserati brands, said the engines for the Maserati crossover will be assembled in Maranello and will be mated to Fiat's eight-speed automatic transmission.

In addition, it said all the significant chassis tuning will be performed by Maserati engineers in Modena.

The original Kubang concept, which looks considerably different from the current interpretation, made its global debut at the 2003 Detroit show and eventually was shelved by Maserati.