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RPM TV Website | March 28, 2024

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Lamborghini Urus will be built in Italy

Lamborghini Urus
Adam Schoeman

Lamborghini has announced that it will, in conjunction with the Italian Government, be building the Urus premium SUV in Italy.

According to sources the Italian Government has been very keen to lock in this agreement as it will  create a number of jobs for the European country.

The Urus is a particularly interesting example because of the level of appetite for super-premium SUVs across the globe: it should become Lamborghini’s best seller and therefore also boost the job market in Italy.

Lamborghini’s early estimations were that they would sell 3 000 units per year, but given the introduction of cars like the Range Rover SVR and Mercedes-Benz’s decision to add a Pullman super luxury model to the GLS, this market could be  far bigger than those early estimates.

Lamborghini has been trying for quite some time to get the Urus to market, even longer than Bentley’s Bentayga, which was initially scrapped. Like the Bentayga it will be built on a modified version of Audi’s new Q7 platform, which will give it a sizeable advantage over its competitors as its development costs will be much lower.

The concept version of the Urus that was shown in 2012 was visually Lamborghini through and through and featured plenty of carbon fibre. It was powered by a turbocharged V10 which was also linked to a transmission-housed electric motor.

There have been no indications of whether this setup will filter down to the production version of the car, but considering the power on offer from the Cayenne Turbo S and Range Rover SVR, both of which use turbocharged V8 engines, forced induction might be a necessity.

Currently the most powerful production engine that Lamborghini offers is a 6,5-litre naturally aspirated V12 propelling the Aventador LP750-4 Superveloce. It produces 550 kW and 690 Nm of torque, but would probably be deemed impractical to use on the ‘mass-production’ Urus.

Certain Asian markets, specifically China, have instituted tough anti-pollution regulations which have caused other premium vehicle manufacturers to move to forced induction engines below a certain capacity to try and avoid hefty tax bills.

Seeing as China is a key market for the super-premium SUV market, we would think that a smaller turbocharged V8 is more likely to find service in the Urus.

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