The start of production for the Lamborghini Urus is still a couple of years away, but in Sant’Agata Bolognese, preparations for the company’s third model have already begun.

The existing 80,000 square meters production site will almost double in size, to 150,000 square meters, in order to accommodate the new assembly line for the SUV.

Lamborghini’s workforce now stands at 1,300 employees, out of which more than 600 were hired in the past five years. In 2015, more than 150 assembly line workers, highly-qualified specialists and technicians joined the facility.

The growth trend will continue this year, “with equally significant numbers“, as the manufacturer writes, and since January, 30 new production line workers have been hired. Other job openings during 2016 will include technical production staff and technicians working in Research & Development, Quality, Purchasing, Industrial and Project Management divisions.

Lamborghini is experiencing strong, steady growth in sales and also in its workforce. We are getting ready for groundbreaking changes with the introduction of our third model in 2018, which points to stable, sustainable growth for our company“, said the Lambo President and CEO, Stephan Winkelmann.

Lamborghini production is expected to double at approximately 5,000 to 6,000 vehicles annually once the Urus will join the lineup in 2018, as the third vehicle, along with Huracan and Aventador.

Aimed to become the fastest SUV on the planet, surpassing the Bentley Bentayga and the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, the Lambo SUV will use a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 petrol engine, instead of the naturally aspirated V10 and V12 units found on the Huracan and Aventador. A plug-in hybrid might be added to the lineup too, further down the road.

The performance-focused Italian SUV is believed to carry a starting price of $220,000+ (€203,000+) once it will hit dealerships.

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