The Urus hybrid will follow Urus Evo, with an all-new Urus EV to come by the end of the decade.
The Lamborghini Urus is set to get a major mid-life update since its debut back in 2018. The upcoming super-SUV will be lighter and also get a bump in power over the existing model.
- Lamborghini Urus Evo to get more power
- Will be lighter than the outgoing model
- Two updates to the Urus coming before 2024
Lamborghini Urus: two updates lined up
Company CEO Stephan Winkelmann told our sister publication Autocar UK that there will be two important rounds of updates for the Urus before 2024. “The first is the facelift, which adds more power and less weight – this is the idea – for the performance-oriented car,” he said. “And then in 2024, we will have all our line-up hybridised, and the Urus is an important part of this.”
That means that, as well as the updated 2023 Urus weighing slightly less than its 2,200kg, it will pack more than the current car’s 650hp, courtesy of revisions to its twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 – though likely only slightly more, given it is already the most powerful car from the Volkswagen Group to use this engine. It is likely the updated car will be named the Urus Evo, as was the case when the Huracán was similarly uprated in 2019. Following this round of updates, the Urus will receive a plug-in hybrid in 2024, before it is replaced in the second half of the decade by an all-electric successor.
Electrification will be key to maintaining the Urus’ strong sales figures worldwide. It has been Lamborghini’s bestselling model for the past three years (its first three on sale), outselling the Huracán by almost two-to-one in 2021. However, increasingly stringent emissions regulations risk the SUV falling out of favour, particularly with urban buyers, in various markets.
The Urus PHEV is likely to feature a variation of the powertrain used by its Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid sibling. Mating the Volkswagen Group’s twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 to an electric motor, the system produces combined outputs of 671hp and offers an electric-only driving range of around 30km, while cutting CO2 emissions down to 90g/km. As well as the electrified Cayenne, the Urus also shares its MLB Evo underpinnings with the Audi Q8, Bentley Bentayga and Volkswagen Touareg, each of which now offers a PHEV option.
Next-gen Urus to be fully electric: to come only by 2028
“After the hybrid car, the Urus will be fully electrified,” confirmed Winkelmann, adding that it will be a “completely new car”. He did not confirm a timeframe, but given the firm’s first EV is scheduled to launch in 2028, and the Urus successor will be the second, it is unlikely to arrive before 2029. It is not clear if the Urus will be updated again in its current lifecycle. The refreshed Urus will get substantial styling tweaks, especially in the front air intake area, and more prominently, the leading lip of the bonnet and bumper will be reshaped. At the rear, we can expect a reshaped lower diffuser and new brake-light designs to feature.
Expect additional changes for the updated Urus to bring subtle improvements to the cabin environment, infotainment system and chassis – and for them to be accompanied by a slight price increase.
Lamborghini Urus: the India angle
Lamborghini India clocked an impressive 86 percent year-on-year growth in India, driven, of course, by its bestseller, the Urus SUV. In September 2021, Lamborghini India crossed the 300-unit sales milestone, over 100 units of which were the Urus, which was only launched in 2018.
The Urus was launched in India in early 2018, though deliveries for the SUV only began later in the year. Lamborghini has so far sold over a hundred units of the SUV here. The Urus Pearl Capsule edition was introduced in India recently, followed by the Urus Graphite Capsule edition. Both versions have found a handful of buyers already.
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Super-luxury car, sportscar sales soared in 2021
Lamborghini Sterrato off-road supercar in the works