In the run-up to the Shanghai Motor Show, due to open its doors to the public on April 21, Maserati has released the first official images of its new Ghibli.

Not to be confused with the original Maserati Ghibli — the curvaceous 1960s sports coupe with movie-star good looks, the 2013 reimagining of the car appears to be as a four-door, four-seat executive sedan, though one with a very sporty character.

Maserati is understandably being coy on exact details but has confirmed that the car will come with two different turbocharged V6 engines, an eight-speed automatic gearbox, a choice of rear-wheel or four-wheel drive and, for the first time in the company’s history, a diesel derivative, albeit a V6 turbodiesel.

Conceived as a smaller, more agile brother to its Quattroporte, the Ghibli looks like it has been devised to compete head-to-head with the BMW 5-Series, Mercedes E-Class and the Audi A6.

And while there’s no doubt that Maserati can challenge each of those German cars in terms of speed, performance and attention to detail, there’s no indication yet if it can compete in terms of price too.