Aurus Motors (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: ''Аурус Моторс'') is a Russian

luxury automobile A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities, quality, performance, and associated status compared to moderately priced cars. The term is subjective and reflects both the qualities of the car and the b ...

company founded in 2018, originally strictly as a Russian

motorcade A motorcade, or autocade, is a procession of vehicles. Etymology The term ''motorcade'' was coined by Lyle Abbot (in 1912 or 1913 when he was automobile editor of the ''Arizona Republican''), and is formed after ''cavalcade'', playing off of ...

vehicle brand until 2021 when the company's first civilian model, the

Aurus Senat The Aurus Senat (russian: Сенат) is a luxury full-size sedan by Russian automaker Aurus Motors and developed by NAMI in Moscow, Russia. The armoured limousine is powered by a 4.4 litre V8 engine developed by NAMI, with a 6.6 litre V12 (6 ...

, began production in May.

Name

According to the company, ''Aurus'' is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsaura Aura most commonly refers to: * Aura (paranormal), a field of luminous multicolored radiation around a person or object * Aura (symptom), a symptom experienced before a migraine or seizure Aura may also refer to: Places Extraterrestrial * 1488 ...

'' or ''aurum'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

for 'gold') and '' Rus''.

History

Aurus Senat, GIMS 2019, Le Grand-Saconnex (GIMS1173)

In 2013,

NAMI Nami ( ar, نامي, ja, 波 ('wave'), ('regular'), etc.) may refer to: Given name * Nami (, , , , ), Japanese feminine given name * Nami Akimoto (born 1968), Japanese manga artist * , Japanese film director, screenwriter and editor *, Japane ...

began development on a new Russian presidential state car to replace the then-current Mercedes-Benz S 600 Pullman Guard. In 2018, the new Russian presidential state car and motorcade vehicles were introduced under the Aurus Kortezh (Russian for ''cortege'' or ''motorcade'') line of vehicles. This includes the Senat sedan and

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pro ...

, Arsenal

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across t ...

, and Komendant

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon defini ...

. The three vehicles are named after

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...

towers. On 19 February 2019, the Russia Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that Abu Dhabi,

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at ...

-based company Tawazun Holding will invest in a 36% stake of Aurus Motors for

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

124 million within the next three years and will distribute Aurus cars in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

Aurus 01 - Gibson - G-Drive Racing - 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans

At the 2019

Geneva International Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by th ...

in March, Aurus exhibited the Senat and Senat Limousine, previewing future sale of the models. At the

2019 24 Hours of Le Mans The 87th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''87e 24 Heures du Mans'') was an 24 hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 15 to 16 June 2019 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, close to L ...

from 15 to 16 June,

G-Drive Racing G-Drive Racing is a Russian sports car racing team. It is named after the commercial fuel distributed by Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of oil giant Gazprom. They made their debut in the LMP2 class of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship in ...

partnered with Aurus and raced an

Oreca 07 The Oreca 07 is a Le Mans Prototype built by French manufacturer Oreca to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO LMP2 regulations. It made its official race debut in the opening round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 24 Hours of Da ...

rebadged as the Aurus 01. The team finished 11th place in the race with 364 laps. In May 2021,

Sollers JSC Sollers, formerly known as OAO Severstal-Auto, is a Russian company holding controlling blocks of shares of OAO Ulyanovsk Automobile Works (UAZ), Zavolzhye Motor Works (ZMZ) and OAO ZMA. The enterprises of Severstal-Auto are well-known automobi ...

began civilian-use production of the Senat motorcade car at the

Yelabuga Yelabuga (alternative spelling that reflects the Cyrillic spelling: Elabuga; russian: Елабуга; tt-Cyrl, Алабуга, ''Alabuğa'') is a town in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kama River and eas ...

Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

Ford Sollers Ford Sollers was a joint venture between the American car manufacturer Ford and the Russian Sollers established in 2011, and dissolved in 2022. Ford Sollers was responsible for the production, import, and distribution of all Ford brand products, ...

plant, where the Russian-spec

Ford Transit The Ford Transit is a family of light commercial vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1965, primarily as a cargo van, but also available in other configurations including a large passenger van (marketed as the Ford Tourneo i ...

is produced. The base model started at ~18 million

ruble The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

s (US$243k), while the launch edition model was priced at ~22 million rubles (US$297k).

Models

Kortezh series

The Aurus Kortezh line is developed by NAMI and manufactured by Sollers.

Civilian models

* Senat (2021–present), a

full-size Full-size car—also known as large car—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than mid-size cars, it is the largest size class for cars. In Europe, it is known as E-segment or F-segment. A ...

luxury Luxury may refer to: *Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises * Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars ** Luxury tax (sports), surcharge p ...

sedan * Senat Limousine (2021–present), an

armored Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...

based on the Senat sedan

Motorcade vehicles

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

- a luxury

passenger van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

(Аурус Арсенал) * Senat - a full-size luxury sedan (Аурус Сенат) * Senat Convertible - a luxury

convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving ex ...

(Аурус Сенат Кабриолет) * Senat Limousine - an armored limousine based on the Senat sedan and the official Russian president state car (Аурус Сенат Лимузин) * Komendant (released in November 2022), a luxury

(Комендант)

Upcoming models

Merlon A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 202. Merlons are sometimes ...

(to be released in 2023), an

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described b ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruisin ...

prototype (Мерлон)

Motorsport vehicles

* 01, a 2019

Le Mans Prototype A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were cr ...

built by French manufacturer

Oreca ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French racing team and race car constructor, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team AGS. Oreca has had success in many areas of motorsport ...

References

External links

* {{Automotive industry Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Car manufacturers of Russia Russian brands Car brands Aurus Motors