Lamborghini has announced it will make its long-promised premium SUV, with the production version set to go on sale in 2018.

The new model will be built in Italy, at the Lamborghini factory at the company’s headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese. Reports had suggested that the Italian government had granted Lamborghini a number of ‘tax breaks and other benefits’ to ensure that a new domestic facility was opened in Italy. Lamborghini has since confirmed that the deal was made possible thanks to assistance from the likes of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and Invitalia - the Italian national agency for inward investments and economic development.

As the production Urus is to be built on the same underpinnings as the new Audi Q7 and the forthcoming Bentley Bentayga, it was also possible for the Lamborghini to come out of the same Slovakian factory as the Q7.

However, the new model will significantly expand the capacity of the Sant’Agata Bolognese plant, with the company saying it will invest “hundreds of millions of Euros” in the facility. It will almost double in size, growing from 80,000 square metres to around 150,000 square metres. Lamborghini also intends to hire 500 new employees.

The car will be the firm’s third model line and will be the production version of the Urus concept, which was first shown at the 2012 Beijing motor show. The concept made extensive use of carbon fibre in its construction and was powered by a turbocharged V10 engine, hooked up to a transmission-mounted electric motor.

Lamborghini intends to spread its sales across the globe, and has identified the USA, China, the Middle East, United Kingdom, Germany and Russia as its main target markets. It intends to sell around 3000 units a year, which would represent a doubling of the company’s current sales figures.

Lamborghini President and CEO Stephan Winkelmann said: “This is a proud moment for everybody in Lamborghini. The introduction of a third model line endorses the stable and sustainable growth of the company and signifies for us the beginning of a new era.”