Lamborghini pulled off a stunner at the Beijing Auto Show when it unveiled the Urus SUV concept. No doubt covetous of all the juicy slices of the premium SUV pie that its corporate siblings Volkswagen, Audi, and most especially Porsche have been filling up with, Lamborghini is about to substantially increase its market base, the way Porsche has done with the Cayenne.
The Urus will reportedly have all the performance expected of a Lamborghini, with 600hp and a relatively lightweight chassis that makes liberal use of carbon fiber. The Urus concept slots in at 4.99 meters long and 1.99 meters wide. This will enable a large four-seat cabin as well as the formidable running gear. The height will be just 1.66 meters, much lower than its rivals.
Exterior touches include Lamborghini’s trademark angular shapes, with horizontally-oriented heptagonal all-LED headlamps sitting atop huge air intakes. The greenhouse tapers severely towards the rear, while the rear haunches bulge distinctively. Bulge they must, as the Urus rides on 24-inch wheels forged from matte-finish aluminum. The wheels also include carbon-fiber winglets. The front spoiler, side sills and rear diffuser are also made from carbon fiber. There are no exterior mirrors; instead cameras feed images to a pair of video screens.
The exterior is not exactly subtle, but Lamborghini goes even wilder with the interior. Nearly all interior components are made from carbon fiber, including seats and a skeletal center tunnel. Interior controls are minimalist—for the hands, it’s just the steering wheel and shift paddles. Secondary switches for lights and wipers are on the steering wheel or center console—something that will take some getting used to, particularly when going 300 km/h.
Lamborghini has included photos of the Urus doing some rock climbing, so it will have some offroad capability. We are guessing it will not be to the same degree as the mountain-goat Porsche Cayenne. The entire bodyshell can be raised or lowered, and the front spoiler can be independently raised as well to clear obstacles. The Urus will have permanent all-wheel drive. (The name derives from Urus bulls, aka Aurochs—wouldn’t that have been a better name—which are large, wild bulls that measure up to 1.8 meters at the shoulder.)
In the company’s resume is the 1986 LM002 military-grade offroader, a V12-powered, 450bhp monster capable of rock-crawling as well as crusing at more than 200km/h. The LM002, stuff of fantasy though it was, only sold 300 units. Lamborghini is forecasting 3000 units per year of its new bull.
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