Russian President Vladimir Putin is making a lot of news these days, be it successfully organizing the FIFA World Cup 2018 or be it his recent meeting with Donald Trump in Helsinki, Finland. He also made news in May 2018 for officially travelling for the first time in his Russian-made presidential limousine, synonymous with the Cadillac based ‘The Beast’ used by the U.S. President Donald Trump.
On the sideline of the Vladimir Putin’s official meeting with Donald Trump in Helsinki, Finland, the presidential limousine also made its international debut. The bespoke Aurus Senat limousine was last seen at the World Cup final held in Moscow yesterday.
Two Aurus Senat limos arrived in Helsinki last week on an Iljyushin transport plane, according to a report, waiting for Putin's arrival at the Helsinki Airport. The car made the official debut in May, and is part of “Kortezh", that will comprise of a senate limousine, a shorter sedan version, a minivan and an SUV, all of which will follow in 2019.
The engineering work of the limousine is being handled by a consortium of Russian automakers, including Sollers, GAZ, KAMAZ and ZiL. It is also believed that Porsche is roped in to help develop the powertrains, one of which is tipped to be a twin-turbocharged V-12.
The limo is powered by a 4.4-litre V8 engine and is nearly 22-foot-long vehicle with over 14,000 pounds of weight. The Russian made vehicle is an heir to the ZIL sedans, that were the last Soviet made state vehicles.
Approximately 200 of the new vehicles will be inducted in the Russian state’s fleet and eventually, civilian versions of the Kortezh vehicles will be launched. Putin has earlier said that Russia should reduce its dependence on imported goods and technology, to overcome Western sanctions.
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