Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Michael Manley blamed the poor performance on brand mismanagement. At a conference in 2018, he said, “With hindsight, when we put Maserati and Alfa [Romeo] together, it did two things. Firstly, it reduced the focus on Maserati the brand. Secondly, Maserati was treated for a period of time almost as if it were a mass-market brand, which it isn’t and shouldn’t be treated that way.”

A separate Automotive News story in August 2019 said Maserati would not see profitability until it began its new product launches this year. And it desperately needed some new products.

Now, we finally have some.

Enter the MC20 supercar – “MC” standing for Maserati Corse and “20” for 2020. Debuting in a September live-stream from Modena, Italy in a show of flashing lights, a drum routine and a choreographed choral number – of all things – the MC20 became Maserati’s first entirely new car since the Levante’s launch in 2016.

It was trotted out before an assembly of existing Maserati cars in a big stadium – not unlike the way Simba was presented to the animal kingdom, assembled at the foot of Pride Rock – and marked the brand’s first flagship halo car since the prohibitively expensive and rare MC12 from 2004.

Maserati didn’t go to MC12 levels with the new car, which made it a much more appropriate halo car. Its on-paper performance and sticker price, US$210,000 at the lowest, put it side-by-side with McLarens and Lamborghinis.

It is on the shoulders of the MC20 that Maserati will kick off its new era of reinvention. Don’t expect a Maserati IPO à la Ferrari, but do expect an ambitious plan from Manley: the launching of 13 new Maserati models from now through 2024, led by the MC20.

At the MC20’s debut, Maserati’s director of brand and sales, Andy Love, said that a new Quattroporte sedan, Levante SUV, compact SUV, grand-tourer and GranCabrio are in the works. He declined to answer specifically what the new, unnamed models in the 13-car launch plan would be, but confirmed that fully electric versions of all would be available.

Indeed, in announcing the MC20, Maserati said the supercar is “designed … for full electric power”.

The MC20’s positioning is meant to make a “big splash”, Love said. This is the car to get people excited about Maserati again, the one that’s supposed to end up on bedroom posters. It certainly has the looks – sweeping, elegant, refined, Italian.

“It signals the beginning of a new era of Maserati,” Love continued. The MC20’s design language, engine, and technology will appear in subsequent Maserati models. A particular point of pride for the carmaker is the new Nettuno – “Neptune” in Italian, since Maserati’s emblem is a trident – engine, nestled between the MC20’s two axles.

It’s a twin-turbocharged, 3.0-litre V6 unit that’s good for a claimed 621 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque. All that power will be sent to the rear wheels via a dual-clutch, eight-speed automatic transmission. It all makes the MC20 sound like it’ll be a fast, exhilarating thing.

Maserati said the Nettuno engine will, like the rest of the car, be built in its home base in Modena, Italy, and is a “patented, 100 per cent Maserati engine”. A Road & Track story from July, however, observed the engine appears to share parts with other engines in the FCA family, including ones from siblings Ferrari and Alfa Romeo.

Regardless, it’s likely that versions of this engine will appear in the upcoming new Maseratis.

Not much more is known about the MC20 except for the initial release stats and specs, but an emailed press release said the project started in January 2019.

“The MC20 design was produced in about 24 months, with the involvement from the outset, in an innovative approach, of a team of Maserati Innovation Lab engineers, technical specialists from the Maserati Engine Lab and designers from the Maserati Style Centre,” it read.

Love confirmed the timeline, saying the MC20 took effectively two years from conception to production.

It seems short, but Love assured that car production these days takes about three years. Also, because the MC20 will be largely hand-built, it won’t require a huge production line, he said.

In 2015, news website Jalopnik reported that, contrary to then-industry standards of new car development taking between four and five years, the Alfa Romeo Giulia was developed in just two and a half years. The story noted that Mercedes-Benz, for example, can spend six years developing a car.

The Giulia’s reliability issues are well documented. Car and Driver’s long-term Giulia Quadrifoglio seemed like a maintenance nightmare. The Sunday Times suffered three broken Giulias. Jalopnik’s press car broke down on the highway. YouTube channel Consumer Reports hosts had to go to the dealer three times in the early days of its Giulia ownership. During a track day, UK car forum website PistonHeads’ Giulia decided to go into limp mode and stop on track.

That being said, it’s also unclear if the Giulia’s short development time correlates to issues experienced by journalists. Obviously, they represent a small number of Giulia drivers.

But it’s something to keep in mind, especially since Italian cars have a reputation of being unreliable.

But for too long, questions regarding Maserati’s purpose went unanswered. It’s changed hands many times over its 105-year history, but has also been known to build some of the most beautiful cars ever nevertheless. Its contemporary-but-ageing line-up desperately needs something new. It needs something thrilling; something to get people talking about it again.

Finally, in 2020, there’s a concentrated effort to rejuvenate the storied Italian brand. The MC20, for all intents and purposes, seems to be an exciting first crack at things to come.

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This article originally appeared on Business Insider.