The Crittenden Automotive Library

There Are SUV’s And Then There Are SUV’s

Topics: Lamborghini Urus

There Are SUV’s And Then There Are SUV’s

Geoff Maxted
DriveWrite
January 16, 2014

As has been previously rumoured, Lamborghini plans to start building the dramatic Urus SUV in three years time; the brand's first model in the segment since the LM002 or ‘Rambo Lambo’ of the 1990s.

"The expectation is to introduce the SUV in 2017, Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said on Monday in an interview at the Detroit Motor Show. "The luxury SUV market is poised to continue to grow," he opined.

Lamborghini discontinued the LM002 SUV, popularly known as the ‘Rambo Lambo’, in 1993 after a failed effort to make military vehicles. In 2012, the carmaker unveiled a prototype of the Urus, which Winkelmann predicted could generate 3,000 deliveries a year.

The car maker plans to start deliveries of the new Huracan sports car, which replaces the Gallardo as the entry into the brand's line-up, in the second half of this year. The Company believes that supercar market conditions in 2014 would involve "light and shadow," with North American demand probably growing and European sales stable or maybe showing a slight decline.

As well as Lamborghini, Volkswagen Group's Bentley and Porsche high-end brands are also adding new SUVs to their line-ups. Last year, Bentley got VW's go-ahead to produce a crossover, which will launch in 2016. In April, Porsche will start selling the new Macan crossover. The compact model will join the Porsche’s best-selling vehicle, the larger Cayenne SUV.

Meanwhile Fiat Group's upscale Maserati division plans to introduce an SUV as part of a strategy to expand sales to 50,000 vehicles in 2015. The model will be built in Italy starting next year.

Rolls-Royce too is getting closer to making a decision on whether to enter the segment, CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes said on Friday. The executive said the BMW-owned unit was "playing with some drawings'' and looking deeper into the whole issue. The question here is, do Rolls Royce need an SUV? Is that what they are for? With the forthcoming rush of high-end SUV’s surely it’s a car too far for Britain’s finest?