Aurus Motors ( Russian: ''Аурус Моторс'') is a Russian luxury automobile 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, began production in May.

Name

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

aura 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 for 'gold') and ''

Rus Rus or RUS may refer to: People and places * Rus (surname), a Romanian-language surname * East Slavic historical territories and peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia ** Rus' people, the people of Rus' ** Rus' territories *** Kievan ...

''.

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, 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 th ...

, and Komendant SUV. 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, Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of th ...

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

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, United Arab Emirates-based company Tawazun Holding will invest in a 36% stake of Aurus Motors for US$124 million within the next three years and will distribute Aurus cars in the Middle East. Aurus 01 - Gibson - G-Drive Racing - 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans

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

At the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show 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 Le ...

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 rebadged as the Aurus 01. The team finished 11th place in the race with 364 laps. In May 2021, Sollers JSC began civilian-use production of the Senat motorcade car at the Yelabuga, Tatarstan Ford Sollers 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 in ...

is produced. The base model started at ~18 million rubles (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 luxury sedan * Senat Limousine (2021–present), an armored limousine 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 (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 full-size SUV (Комендант)

Upcoming models

* Merlon (to be released in 2023), an electric motorcycle

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

(Мерлон)

Motorsport vehicles

* 01, a 2019 Le Mans Prototype built by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

manufacturer Oreca

References

External links

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