2016 was the year Maserati entered the luxury crossover market with the Levante. It served as their first-ever high-riding model and is aimed against the likes of the BMW X5, Porsche Cayenne, and Mercedes-Benz GLE.

For a brand known the world over for making exquisite sports cars and sports sedans, Maserati was able to make the transition into building sporty crossovers. And now, the company has revealed that the Levante will be getting a smaller sibling.

It's called the 'Grecale', and it is indeed small. Looking at the official 'spy' photos released by Maserati, the Grecale appears to have a similar look as its bigger brother. From its signature front grille, sporty front bumper, and distinct profile, the Grecale greatly resembles the Levante. Perhaps the only difference it gets is the uniquely shaped headlights.

The exact specifications regarding the Grecale are still a mystery. However, it supposedly shares its platform with the Alfa Romeo Stelvio. This could mean that the Grecale could come with a twin-turbo V6 or a turbo-hybrid inline-four. There will also be a purely electric version of the Grecale coming as Maserati has already announced its intent to offer pure electric drive systems on some of its models.

It is set to be launched this year although Maserati has yet to give an exact date or month. But given that the camouflaged prototype already looks like a production model, we might not actually wait that long for it to be revealed in full.

With a name derived from 'an easterly wind that blows in the western Mediterranean Sea and southern France', will the Grecale actually blow the competition away like BMW X3 or the Porsche Macan? Watch this space.