After several teasers and renderings, Lamborghini finally unveiled its much anticipated SUV, the Urus at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show last month. The Urus marked the Italian automaker’s debut in the SUV segment and received tremendous response from media and automotive experts. Now, as the company’s R&D Director, Maurizio Reggiani speaks to Automotive News, details of the production variant start to take surface.
In a statement made to Automotive News, Reggiani said “We envisage a start of production no sooner than early 2017.” It is a long way to 2017, and for now we have only few details on the spectacular maching.
Reggiani further revealed that the Urus will be platformed on Volkswagen’s uni-body PL73 platform. The next-generation Audi Q7 will be the first model to roll out from this platform, while upcoming Bentley EXP 9F SUV, third-generation Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg SUV will follow next. He went on to elaborate that the Urus SUV will set standards, not only in terms of performance, but also in terms of body weight. Targeting a curb-weight of just 1,996 kg, the crossover will make extensive use of carbon fiber for the interiors, while employing aluminum-magnesium for structures including hood, tailgate and doors.
Apart from the heavy diet on the outside, Reggiani suggested that the Urus will opt for a smaller capacity power plant to keep the weight low. It will dump the bigger V10 for a more efficient twin-turbo V8. There is no official word, but Automotive News suggests that the power plant could be borrowed from Audi. The 4.2-liter V8 found in Audi and Bentley churns out as much as 600 bhp.
When sent into production, Lamborghini targets annual 3,000 units of SUV alone, which is more than its total sales volume currently. The Italian carmaker’s Sant’ Agata Bolognese plant will be employed for final assembly of the product. The Lamborghini SUV’s major markets include China, the Middle East, Russia and the U.S.