The Maserati Levante is the maker's first-ever SUV and considered an integral part of the company's plans to sell 50,000 units annually by 2015.

Much of the focus on Fiat SpA has been on how it can gain control of Chrysler Group and what it will mean for the Italian automaker, but lost in that story is the success of one of its other brands: Maserati.

The Modena-based maker of famous names like Quattroporte and Gran Turismo is enjoying a renaissance, but it’s one of its own creation and determination. Last year, the company announced a goal of selling 50,000 units globally by 2015. The company’s high-water mark for sales was 9,000 in 2008.

While it seemed ambitious at the time, the company sold about 6,300 units in 2012, it has orders for 22,500 vehicles this year and is trending up. 

The improvement is due in large measure to the brand’s popularity in China, as well as the redesigned Quattroporte and all-new Ghibli, described as a “baby Quattroporte,” being a hit with buyers.

For Maserati the news only gets better as the much-anticipated Levante SUV is expected to go on sale next year and the aforementioned Gran Tursimo is getting a replacement.

Quattroporte still leads the sales pack with 9,900 models sold this year. The maker has sold about 7,900 Ghiblis and the Gran Turismo is hanging in there with 5,000 units.

If Maserati is to meet its goal, the $1.5 billion gamble it’s taking on the Levante will need to pay off. It’s investing that money in its flagship Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy to build the SUV.

(Fiat takes $1.5 billion gamble on Maserati. For more, Click Here.)

It’s a gamble because the European market has shrunk significantly in recent years, the employees at the facility are among the highest paid in Europe. However, “despite the current economic and political uncertainties,” Sergio Marchionne, Fiat’s chief, revealed in a letter sent to the Mirafiori plant’s employees, earlier this year.

“Every organization and its people face important moments. Moments when it is necessary to take courageous decisions, even though the normal prudence and logic might suggest waiting.  Today is one of those moments,” Marchionne wrote.

(Click here for a first look at the all-new Ghibli.)

Maserati’s return to prominence is an important part of Fiat’s plans to return to profitability in 2016 in Europe, where it lost nearly $1 billion last year.

“Our investment (in new models) is starting to pay off,” said Harald Wester, Maserati’s chief executive, during a recent presentation in Italy. Earlier this year, Wester said he expected to sell 20,000 to 25,000 Levantes.