Lamborghini has released the first pictures of its Urus SUV, which makes its world debut at the Beijing motor show.
Although it's officially billed as a concept, the show car previews a production model in 2017 or even as early as 2015. Audi-owned Lamborghini is following a niche for upmarket SUVs pioneered by Porsche with the Cayenne and more recently by Bentley with the EXP 9F concept it revealed at the Geneva show in March.
Unusually in this company, the Urus has a three-door bodyshell with seating for four. Under the bonnet – the existing Aventador and Gallardo supercars have mid-engined layouts – is likely to be the company's V10 developing about 600bhp, with permanent four-wheel drive. Lamborghini is claiming advances in lightweight construction, such as forged composite materials, to provide best-in-class CO2 emissions.
The ethos is for a Lamborghini you can use every day, broadening the marque's appeal to families and those who require more practicality than the company's extreme two-seaters can deliver. The annual production volume could be about 3,000 vehicles.
"The Urus is a very concrete idea for the future of Lamborghini – as a third model line and as the perfect complement to our super sports cars," said Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. "SUVs stand for freedom and emotion. SUVs make up one of the most successful market segments worldwide. The Urus is the most extreme interpretation of the SUV idea; it is the Lamborghini of the SUVs."
With a height of just 1.66 metres, the Urus – named after a large, wild ancestor of today's Spanish fighting bulls – is considerably lower than rivals despite sitting on 24in wheels. Because of the car's lightweight construction, in which it already has considerable expertise, Lamborghini says the dynamics and handling will set new benchmarks for the class.
Most of the minimalist interior including the seats is formed from carbon-fibre reinforced polymer, in keeping with Lamborghini's lightweight design strategy, while the seating position is lower than in any competitor.
The Urus isn't the first Lamborghini SUV. In the mid-1980s it produced the LM002, a V12-engined monster that remained in production until 1992, although only 300 were produced in that time.
