Lamborghini’s luxurious, high-performance SUV previewed as the Urus will be hitting the production line in April this year. First showcased at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show as a concept, the Urus is Lamborghini’s major plunge into the SUV segment. The production-spec Urus is expected to be previewed at the 2017 edition of the Beijing Auto Show in April.
Confirmed by Italian supercar manufacturer’s chief executive officer, Stefano Domenicali, the SUV from Lamborghini will retain the Urus name. Production will commence with pre-series models at the manufacturer’s only facility in Sant’Agata Bolognese. The facility will be expanded in order to meet production demands of the SUV. The manufacturer expects to ship approximately 3,500 models of the off-roader a year. Lamborghini will first work on expanding its dealership and after sales network ahead of the Urus’ delivery.
According to Lamborghini, the Urus will have considerable off-roading credentials with a specific setup for ice, snow, stones, and sand. The Urus will have all the essential features of a modern day SUV which will make it an everyday car but will instil Lamborghini DNA. On autonomous driving, the carmaker remained discrete but divulged the fact that it will be open to such technologies the customers are accustomed to. Furthermore, the Urus will instigate the hybridisation for Lamborghini, but the carmaker says the first Lamborghini hybrid will be the second variant of the Urus. Thus providing the supercars in its line-up to push the naturally-aspirated V12 for few more years until the manufacturer can come up with an efficient hardware for the hybridisation.
It is speculated that the Raging Bull SUV will be based on a highly altered MLB platform which currently underpins the Touareg, Cayenne and Q7. Lamborghini will re-engineer the platform with carbon fibre replacements to lend it the Lamborghini DNA. It will be powered by a twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8. Though no power figures are confirmed yet, the Urus will surely give the Bentley Bentayga a run for its money. Lamborghini will bring the Urus to India as well.
