Palm Springs, CA -- Lamborghini, known for its high-performance supercars, is hardly a volume automaker. It produced only 3,815 vehicles globally in 2017. But, to hear Lamborghini Americas CEO Alessandro Farmeschi tell it, the company is poised to double in size. And it’s doing so with an interesting hands-on marketing strategy. The main catalyst for Lamborghini’s expansion is the Urus SUV, the company’s first sport-utility vehicle -- and its first four-door model, ever -- if you discount the Estoque sedan concept and the very low-production LM002 military/off-road vehicle (only 328 were built between 1986 and 1993). Quite simply, Lamborghini is finally going mainstream, though staying firmly on the top end of the market.
The Urus has a Jekyll and Hyde personality, since it has everything SUV buyers expect, but also driving modes -- Sport, Corsa -- that turn it into a raging racer with a snarling exhaust, at home on the local Thermal Raceway. Powered by a four-liter, twin-turbo, 650-horsepower V-8, it features