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The 2022 Aurus Komendant debuts as a Russian ultra-luxury SUV with four seats and 590 HP.
Aurus Komendant waited three years. Initially, the premiere of the first SUV in the Aurus line was supposed to take place in 2019, but the presentation was postponed several times. Then the coronavirus pandemic made its contribution to the company's plans. Finally, on September 29, the long-awaited debut of an SUV for top officials (and for those who have several tens of millions of rubles) took place at the Special Purpose Garage Museum of the Federal Security Service of Russia at VDNKh. At the start of sales, Komendant would cost 33.7 million rubles. For about the same price, you can currently buy a Rolls-Royce Cullinan.
They started talking about the family of cars for officials and top officials of the state back in 2012. It was assumed that the president, prime minister, and other high-ranking civil servants would transfer them from the German Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Even though eminent Western partners, such as Porsche, were involved in the work, Aurus models were positioned as a domestic development with a high degree of localization. They say that at Komendant, it reaches 70 percent.
By order of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the State Scientific Center of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise NAMI ("Central Research Automobile and Automotive Institute") took up its development. The project was officially called "Single Modular Platform" but was better known as "Cortege." The Senat sedan and limousine were the first to see the light - they were assembled piece by piece at NAMI facilities in Moscow, and the Russian automaker Sollers, which has a plant in Yelabuga, also joined the project as a manufacturer.
The word Aurus is a combination of the Latin aurum ("gold") and Russia - "Russia." The models were named after the Senate, Commandant, and Arsenal towers of the Moscow Kremlin: the limousine and sedan were named Senat, the SUV was named Komendant, and the minivan was named Arsenal. At the same time, in the early stages of the project, other names were reserved for cars: "President," "Ursus," and "Cosmo."
In May 2018, the Aurus Senat limousine first acted as a car for the first person in the country - Vladimir Putin arrived on it at the inauguration ceremony. The same year, Senat sedans and limousines began to be used in government motorcades, and Arsenal minivans became escort vehicles. Even then, it was known that an SUV should also be included in the model line - they were waiting for its premiere in 2019, and in 2020 it was supposed to get on the conveyor of the Sollers plant in Yelabuga.
The SUV was presented just now. The power plant consists of its own V8 4.4 engine with two turbochargers and a 62-horsepower electric motor located between the internal combustion engine and the nine-speed automatic machine of the Russian company KATE. The return is 598 horsepower. As for the engine, it is unified with the Senat sedan.
Before the premiere, the model was tested in different climatic zones in the Russian winter and at extremely high temperatures in the United Arab Emirates.
The main technical difference from other Aurus models is the air suspension, which creates the optimal ground clearance for each type of surface, and reacts to the speed of movement and steering inputs. The range is from 200 to 260 millimeters.
Aurus Komendant will be offered nine exterior colors, including three new ones and seven interior color options. Personalization is also provided: more than two dozen combinations have been announced, and it is planned to expand the range in the future.
Landing at Komendant that neither is off-road: the seat is shifted higher than that of a sedan, and the angle of inclination of the steering column has been changed, which "gives a confident and comfortable fit and also provides better visibility," Aurus says.
The function of seat massage, heating, and ventilation is announced for the model, and additional screens will be available for second-row passengers.
The start of sales is scheduled for the first quarter of 2023. At the same time, a batch of pre-production vehicles intended for testing will leave the assembly line of the Yelabuga plant by the end of 2022.
Source: motor.ru
Images: Aurus
