The Italian brand, owned by Volkswagen, aims to announce the vehicle at April’s Beijing auto show for a 2016 launch, according to two people with knowledge of the strategy. At the risk of alienating purist fans of its US$413,000 Aventador carbon-fibre sports car, Lamborghini hopes to repeat the Porsche Cayenne’s success in the fast-growing market for luxury sport-utes. The planned vehicle reflects a push to increase profitability at Lamborghini and VW stablemate Bentley, with new models to meet upscale demand for all-wheel drives. Unlike ousted Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking, Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn has few taboos about pushing the brands to pool powertrains, chassis, electronics and other out-of-sight parts with Audi, the group’s main premium division. To develop the new model, Lamborghini is shelving plans for a four-door sedan along the road-hugging lines of its 2008 Estoque show car. Romanowski, whose Lamborghini Club America has issued carbon-fibre membership cards to actor Nicolas Cage, talk show host Jay Leno and about 4,000 others, warns that even a perfectly executed vehicle could hurt the brand if production runs too high. read more

But the only report coming our way from the manufacturer sounded like it denied the rumors, though it likely only meant that a production decision has not been reached. Even if Lamborghini is keeping silent, Audi isn’t, and they are largely responsible for SUVs in VW Group. According to AutoWeek , Ingolstadt says the SUV is indeed in the works, adding that media reports are mostly true, so the pictures we’re showing you show the real deal. The Lambo SUV is expected to debut at the 2012 Shanghai Auto Show in April, where it will be shown as a concept powered by a front-mounted 5. read more

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