Lamborghini urus concept

TOKYO (Bloomberg) — Lamborghini expects the Urus SUV concept, unveiled last year at the Beijing auto show, to get cleared for production, the company’s CEO, Stephan Winkelmann said.

“We’re working on it and it will come, which will be good for the brand,” Winkelmann said in reference to the SUV during an interview last week in Tokyo, where he opened a showroom.

“We’re going low profile now. I can’t tell you much on details now, but when we get close to the launch, we will have more.”

Lamborghini and Bentley, both owned by Volkswagen Group, had prototype SUVs at similar stages of development late last year, though only Bentley got the parent’s go ahead to produce an SUV.

The Cayenne SUV’s success at Porsche, another of VW’s 12 brands, has led luxury brands to pursue supersizing their vehicles in recent years.

Lamborghini discontinued the LM002 SUV — its last SUV — in 1993 after a failed effort to make military vehicles. The new concept SUV, if built, could come to market in 2016 or 2017, Winkelmann said in April last year.

Separately, Winkelmann said in last week’s interview that the company is turning its focus to some of its more established markets as demand slows in China. Lamborghini sees its biggest growth opportunities in “Japan, the Middle East and especially the U.S.,” Winkelmann said. “There is a slowdown in high-end luxury” in China, he said.

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