Lamborghini SUV 'decision taken'

The Lamborghini Urus is arguably the most exciting piece of vapourware in the automotive industry.

The world's wildest SUV gets talked about a lot and rumours of a 2017 debut continue to circle despite the fact is the car is still just an idea, a vehicle that has not been approved.

Or has it?

The word from Andrea Baldi, General Manager of Automobili Laborghini Asia Pacific, is that the internally, Lamborghini is moving forward with plans.

"As far as Lamborghini is concerned, the decision has been already taken," he stated.

"If we have a third model it will be an SUV. We think that given the DNA of the company, a sport utility vehicle is better fitting with our nature, our ambition."

But he qualified his comments by saying Lamborghini, the company, "still needs the VW Group's approval".

That's the official line, but it seems the unofficial line is that the Lambo has tired of waiting, that the deal is a fait accompli.

"The preamble is that the project hasn't been approved and there are many things on paper," he added. "The decision on this will be taken once we will decide to go ahead on the project.

"Actually, if you ask us, it's a yes, but as part of the VW Group we have some strategic decision about the range that needs to be taken in to consideration."

As we've reported, that could include the use of Porsche's hybrid technology, as well as the foundations of the next-generation Porsche Cayenne and Bentley Bentayga, which raises significant questions about the market positioning of a Lamborghini SUV.

In Australia for the Lamborghini Esperienza, where the media and potential customers get to fang the Huracan around a race track, Baldi also confirmed the Urus SUV would be the first the Lamborghini built outside Italy.

"Sant'Agata has a production capacity now conceived only to produce two cars, two models [Aventador and Huracan]. If we want a third model we have to expand [production facilities]. That's obvious," he established.

Lamborghini says it's desire to join the SUV race is the result of customer demand, particularly in the region for which he's responsible -- China.

"Business-oriented customers in China, they want something they can put a guest in without being uncomfortable. Many things led us to think SUV was the right place to develop a third model and from the feedback we got from the market it would be a great idea."

But would an SUV tarnish the brand image of Lamborghini, which started at a tractor manufacturer but has long been known as Italy's 'other' supercar' maker?

"We have exactly the opposite impression," insists Baldi.

"There are customers who love the brand a lot but they cannot utilise the super sport car as much as they would like. They can't take their kids or golf clubs with them, there's ground clearance issues, especially in markets like India and South East Asia.

"It won't be traditional. It will be a Lamborghini. The values of the company are clear. When you put cutting-edge technology on a car, you come from a super sport segment, you need to reflect this also."

An (official) decision on the future of the Urus — or whatever the production version will be called — could be announced sometime this year once the company has decided the car's mechanical make-up, settled on a production base and established a business case.

When that decision is made, Baldi insists the first Lambo SUV will establish a brand-new market segment – just as BMW did with its original X5 "SAV", Porsche did with its Cayenne and now Rolls-Royce is claiming with its 2017 entry into the top-end of the world's fastest growing auto sector.

"We call today an SUV, but what we'll call it later we'll call a new segment," he explained. "It will be sporty by definition. I cannot say more on this but it's not going to be like anything you see now in the market."