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Lamborghini Urus SUV to be assembled in Slovakia

Lamborghini is known for many, many things. Beautiful, exotic and expressive styling, extreme performance and eye-watering prices are Lambo hallmarks. But the Raging Bull is perhaps best known for building its cars by hand... in Slovakia?
No, it's known for building its cars in Italy. But with the Urus SUV, which is already a departure (although not an unprecedented one) from your traditional Lamborghini, the brand could move construction outside the boot-shaped country, and east, into the former Soviet state.
The move will see the Urus, which will ride on a modified version of the Volkswagen Group's MLB platform, screwed together alongside the VW Touareg, Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne and Bentley's eventual SUV at VAG's Bratislava factory. In terms of consolidating production in one factory, it's clearly a clever move. Still, we wonder if setting up Urus production outside of the Sant'Agata factory and in the sprawling Bratislava facility won't lessen the specialness inherent in Lamborghini products.

Lamborghini confirms Urus SUV will be its only plug-in hybrid

According to Autocar, we'll be seeing the first production hybrid Lamborghini soon. The publication reports that Lamborghini's research and development chief, Maurizio Reggiani, confirmed that the Urus SUV will be offered with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. This would also makes sense considering former Lamborghini CEO Stephen Winkelmann's statement that if the company ever produced a hybrid, the Urus would be "the logical place for it to launch." Aside from this, Reggiani revealed nothing more about the gas-electric Urus. Reggiani did, however, provide some insight to Autocar into Lamborghini's powertrain decisions. He told the publication that the Urus's already confirmed twin-turbo V8 was chosen because of a need for torque in an SUV. With this in mind, it will be interesting to see what the company does with the hybrid since a big enough electric motor (or motors) could provide a remarkable amount of torque and, in turn, some impressive performance figures. Lamborghini has even shown this potential in the Asterion concept, which produced 910 horsepower from a 5.2-liter V10 and three electric motors. Of course we'd expect an Urus hybrid to be much less potent and probably connected to a version of the turbocharged V8. Reggiani also told Autocar that, just as the Urus has specific powertrain needs, the supercars do as well. He said that the company has no intention of adding turbocharging to any of its cars. On this subject, he told the publication, "A supercar is completely different; you need the responsiveness of the engine, to feel the spark of every cylinder." It will be interesting to see how long people like Reggiani can keep turbocharging and hybrid assistance out of the sports cars in the face of stricter emissions targets. He hints that future advancements in weight reduction and other areas may be key to that. It's certainly nice to hear that there are people at Lamborghini that still value the subjective aspects that make sports cars great. It's also news that's sure to put fans of Lamborghini's classic, naturally aspirated sports cars at ease. Related Video:

Lamborghini Urus production body revealed in spy shots

After years of concepts and teasers, we finally have a our first look at the production version of the upcoming Lamborghini Urus. While these spy shots don't feature much variety, they do give us a fairly decent look at the front and side of the new model. Although there appear to be a number of changes from the concepts, it's still undeniably a Lamborghini. The Urus appears to wear the new Lamborghini face, similar to that of the updated 2017 Lamborghini Aventador S. The shape is generally the same as the concept, but it's been tamed and pulled back slightly. The intakes in the bottom corners are far smaller than the concept, and the entire front appears far more blunt and upright. The headlights look about the same, but it's hard to tell for sure through all of the camouflage. Around the side we can see that the wheel arches, though smaller, are generally the same shape as the concept. The crease in the door is still present, but far less aggressive. The mirrors are totally different than the miniscule ones fitted to the concept. The bold, sloping BMW X6-esque roofline looks nearly identical, though the production car has been fitted with roof rails. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of the rear to tell how aggressive that roofline really is. Earlier this week, Lamborghini confirmed full production will start in April. That means we should see a final production version fairly soon. Look for a twin-turbocharged V8 and an a plug-in hybrid system in the final version. This may not be as tough as the old Rambo Lambo, the LM002, but it still doesn't look like anything else on the road. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Featured Gallery Lamborghini Urus spy shots Related Gallery Lamborghini Urus Concept: Monterey 2012 View 10 Photos Image Credit: CarPix Design/Style Spy Photos Lamborghini SUV