Lamborghini has finally green-lighted the development of a new SUV with production to take place at its Sant’Agata Bolognese facility in Italy.

The third model in Lamborghini’s tight vehicle range after the Huracan and Aventador will go on sale in 2018, with the VW Group-owned firm expecting annual volumes of around 3,000 SUVs, which will double the double the company’s current sales performance.

According to Lamborghini, the as-of-yet unnamed model will target “Lamborghini super sports car customers who to date have driven SUV models from other brands, as well as families and customers new to the Lamborghini marque”, and that the USA, China, the Middle East, United Kingdom, Germany and Russia will be its main markets.

“The introduction of a third model line endorses the stable and sustainable growth of the company and signifies for us the beginning of a new era,” said Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann. “The new SUV will be made in Sant’Agata Bolognese, demonstrating our commitment to safeguarding the values of ‘Made in Italy’ worldwide.”

Up until now, it wasn’t clear if Lamborghini would build the SUV in its home country or at the same Slovakian plant that produces the Audi Q7, but the company said it came to an agreement with the Italian government that will assist their effort. While Lamborghini did not reveal any details, it has been speculated that Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s government will grant a number of tax breaks and other benefits to the company, which in turn, will invest “hundreds of millions of euros” to expand existing facilities and create new ones, as well as to hire 500 new employees.

Luca de Meo, Board Member for Sales and Marketing Audi AG commented: “Lamborghini is today one of the world’s most exclusive brands. We at Audi are very proud of all our Italian subsidiaries. I am delighted at this outcome for both Lamborghini and Italy, and thank the Italian government for their collaboration in helping to make this possible.” 
The Italians had provided us with a vision of what a Lamborghini SUV should be like with the 5.0-meter long Urus Concept at the 2012 Beijing auto show, but it’s not clear yet if and what kind of changes will be made to the car by the time it reaches production.

What we know for sure is that the Lamborghini SUV will ride on a modified version of the platform that underpins the latest Audi Q7 and the upcoming Bentley Bentayga. We could see it use both V8 and V10 engines.

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