Maserati's North American CEO sells and lives the lifestyle

DANA POINT, Calif. -- If anyone fits the target profile of a Maserati customer, it's Marti Eulberg.

She's a top executive who splits her time between two homes: an apartment on Manhattan's West Side and a California ocean-view home here, perched over a golf course.

She spends about 70% of her working life on the road. She loves adventure and the finer things in life. Single. Upper income. No regrets.

But this Maserati "customer" — she drives two — also is CEO of the Italian luxury car's North American operation. Maserati, along with equally famed stablemate Ferrari, is a unit of Italy's Fiat.

Although she just took over in June, Eulberg already is making a mark, impressing dealers with her enthusiasm and creative marketing ideas, such as offering the sound of a purring Maserati motor as a cellphone ring tone.

Eulberg already knows that sound well. She has a Maserati on each coast, each suited to its habitat. The lipstick-red GranTurismo sports car embodies the fun of her life in south Orange County, Calif. Her more button-down Quattroporte sedan, Maserati's only other U.S. model, is aimed at impressing fellow New Yorkers.

She doesn't just market expensive cars; she sells the lifestyle. "When I get in my car, I smile. When I walk away from my car, I smile."

Happiness with a Maserati is contagious, she insists. "If I'm driving in Manhattan, I get a minimum of four or five thumbs-up a week."

Founded in 1914, Maserati was known early for its racing prowess and speed records. In the U.S., it also became known for its stylish looks.

But by the U.S. recession of the early 1990s, the relatively downscale Biturbo coupe had not burnished the brand, sales flagged, and the brand left the U.S. It was bought by Fiat in 1993, and operations were joined with Ferrari in 1997.

In 2002, with the brand reinvigorated, Maserati returned to America and aimed squarely for well-heeled auto enthusiasts who want the exclusivity brought by a base price of $117,500 for the GT and $133,700 for the Quattroporte.