Want a Rolls-Royce with Russian build quality?

Luxury automobiles built in the world’s largest country have for decades been an automotive novelty and the latest limousine to rise from Russian origins, looks quite convincingly like a Rolls-Royce – literally.

A national pride project operating with the blessing of Vladimir Putin, the brand is called Aurus (no relation to the Toyota Auris) and it has recently shown its first production car to potential European customers.

The car in question is called a Senat and it looks awfully familiar to Rolls-Royce’s Phantom, clearly indicating where Aurus would like to position itself. Unlike some other Russian limousines of the past – such as the ZiL – this Senat features design input from German engineers and the inside appears to be quite contemporary, with TFT instrumentation and an iDrive type infotainment controller dial. It also features rear seats able to recline 45-degrees, to offer supreme comfort to those not tasked with driving.

Powering the Senat is a 4.4-litre bi-turbo V8, which has been jointly developed by Porsche and Bosch. Considering the size and mass of the Senat, which has a rather sizeable 2 700 kg kerb weight, there is also a battery pack beneath the boot, which adds some mild-hybridization. Peak power output for the V8 and its onboard battery drive is 434 kW, which should see the Senat run 0-100 kph in a whisper less than six seconds.

A nine-speed automatic gearbox drives all four wheels, which is not surprising considering the Senat’s Russian origins, where most of the driving year is on treacherously snowed or iced roads. Aurus has committed to delivering the Senat by 2020, with pricing which should shadow Mercedes-Benz’s S-Class. Volume ambitions are high, too, with projected sales of 5 000 Senats per year.

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