Lamborghini has put the production Asterion coupe on the back burner in favor of bringing the Urus SUV to market in 2018, Autocar reports.
The Asterion LPI 910-4 debuted at the Paris Motor Show in 2014 in concept form, featuring a hybrid powertrain good for 910 hp and a design that departs from the Countach-inspired wedge shapes of virtually every Lamborghini model since the 1980s. The LPI part of its name stands for Longitudinale Posteriore Ibrido, that last term being the wonderfully Italian word for “hybrid,” with the coupe pairing the 5.2-liter V10 engine from the Huracan with three electric motors churning out an additional 300 hp.
The Asterion was a surprise when it broke cover, aiming at the McLaren P1, Ferrari La Ferrari, and the Porsche 918 Spyder. The hybrid supercar was very warmly received, with Lamborghini promising a 0 to 60 sprint time of just 3 seconds flat and a top speed of nearly 200 mph. The figure that surprised most, however, was the 57 mpg factory rating of the prototype and a pure-electric range of 32 miles.
The company is now playing down the production potential of the Asterion, indicating that it was meant largely as a technology demonstrator rather than something that was slated for production in the near to mid term.
The Urus debuted in concept form in 2012.
“It was built to show what we would do if the regulations forced us to have 30 miles of electric range as well as high-speed performance,” Lamborghini boss Stephan Winkelmann told Autocar. “Because of the weight of the batteries, we also took the opportunity to make the car bigger and roomier. We wanted to see customer reactions.”
Winkelmann indicated that a production version of the Asterion was now unlikely, with the company recently approving the Urus SUV which will share its underpinnings with the Bentley Bentayga and the Audi Q7. The Urus was greenlit weeks ago, and will be offered in most major markets for the marque with a goal of 3,000 units per year.
The Urus was first shown in concept form at the Beijing Motor Show in 2012, which means it will have taken Lamborghini more than six years to get the model into production by the time the first examples start rolling off the line at Sant’Agata Bolognese. The SUV, a first for the brand, is expected to be priced from approximately $230,000 which will in theory have it competing with its Bentley Bentayga sibling. But the relatively low production volumes and the different positioning of the two are not expected to cause headaches.
It remains to be seen whether the general design of the Urus as seen in Beijing will survive into production, though many observers are expecting hybrid tech borrowed from Audi.