New Rambo-Lambo on the way?
2010-07-21 08:05
If you think a Hummer H1 is unsubtle, well, think again. Lamborghini’s LM002. Unchallenged off-road ability. Severely challenged aesthetics. Countach V12 power to the tune of 330kW. We want a new one.
The business of SUVs, especially over-powered ones with scant off-road ability, is a very profitable one.
Porsche’s Cayenne, AMG’s ML63 and BMW’s X5/6 M-division offerings all combine rampant performance with pavement parking capability.
Beyond the Cayenne GTS, the VW Group lacks a credible petrol-powered performance SUV.
Keen to siphon off sales momentum from the ML63 and X5/X6 M-division offerings, the VW-group is set to employ a unique strategy in its quest to dominate the high-end performance SUV market.
To address the need for another supercar-fast off-roader in the VW-group product portfolio, Lamborghini is set to be working on re-entry to the SUV market.
Audi-owned Lamborghini has the off-roading heritage to launch a radical market assault on the SUV segment.
Lamborghini’s previous off-roader was the mad LM002, essentially a Hummer H1 with carburettor fed Countach V12 power and performance Panzer styling.
The LM002 was silly fast and hugely capable off-road. Fittingly Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi was rumored to have ordered nearly 100 units before LM002 production ended in 1993.
If Lamborghini is set launch another SUV it is likely to use the current second generation VW Touareg/Porsche Cayenne platform.
Typically outlandish Sant'Agata styling (which should mean slightly compromised packaging) could enable Lamborghini to woo customers yearning for supercar performance, SUV ride-height and road presence more conspicuous than either the current Touareg or Cayenne can provide.
If the rumoured Lamborghini SUV project does come to fruition it should confound brand loyalists, who are surely aching for the four-door Estoque concept to be converted to a production model instead.
Should Lamborghini revive the LM002? Share your thoughts here...
