Lamborghini unveils new luxury SUV at Italy's headquarters

ROME, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Car manufacturer Lamborghini unveiled its new luxury SUV model, the Urus, at its headquarters in Sant'Agata Bolognese in northern Italy earlier this week.

Named after an extinct wild ancestor of domestic cattle, the new model is the first sport utility vehicle put on the market by the Italian luxury car brand in 25 years (since the LM002 model).

The worldwide premier of the SUV took place at the factory near Bologna on Dec. 4, before a large audience that included Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, as well as several sport celebrities.

The Urus SUV integrates a V8 twin-turbo engine with a 650-horsepower, and reaches a top speed of 305 km/h (190 mph), accelerating 0 to 100 km in 3.6 seconds, the company said.

According to chairman and chief executive officer Stefano Domenicali, it represents "a visionary approach based on the infusion of Lamborghini DNA into the most versatile vehicle, the SUV."

"The Urus elevates the SUV to a level not previously possible, the Super SUV," Domenicali said at the presentation.

"It is a true Lamborghini in terms of design, performance, driving dynamics and emotion, as well as drivable every day in a range of environments," the CEO added.

The traction control system of the new car features six settings: road, sport, snow, track, sand, and dust.

In the perspective of producing the Urus SUV, the Lamborghini factory in Sant'Agata has been considerably enlarged from 80,000 to about 150,000 meters square, and its current production capacity was expected to double and reach 7,000 units per year by 2018.

The Urus is meant to be on sale starting by next spring, at a suggested retail price of 168,852 euros (about 200,000 U.S. dollars), taxes excluded, Lamborghini stated on its web site.

Automobili Lamborghini, which was founded as an Italian luxury car manufacturer in the early 1960s, is now owned by the Volkswagen Group. The company registered a 7 percent rise in its worldwide sales in 2016 (marking the sixth consecutive year of growth), and posted a turnover of 906 million euros (1.068 billion U.S. dollars), with a 4 percent increase against 2015.

The workforce grew from 1,298 units to some 1,500 units by June this year, including 400 permanent new hires for the Urus production. Enditem