Aurus Motors is a Russian luxury car company founded in 2018, originally strictly as a Russian motorcade vehicle brand until 2021 when the company's first civilian model, the Aurus Senat, began production in May. The automaker claims to have sold 115 cars in 2023. Facelifts are planned for 2026 and 2030. President Putin had a facelifted Aurus in 2024.

 In the former U.S.S.R. ZIL was the state limousine, which was built exclusively for top-ranking members of the Russian Communist Party. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the old ZILs were used only on special occasions when the Russian president was involved. Soon, it became clear that they will have to change the old ZIL fleet, and thus, the Cortage (Motorcade) project was born.

The name Aurus came from the chemical symbol of gold (Au) and Russia (Rus). The development of the new vehicle began when Marussia Motors (Russian sports carmaker) and NAMI (The State Research Center of the Russian Federation) started a design competition named "A car for the President." The result was an intriguing project, a mix between a classic ZIL and a Chrysler 300C, which was further refined.

The Aurus Saga continued with intensive research done at NAMI to develop a new platform, allowing the construction of a sedan, a limousine, an SUV, and a minivan. These cars were meant to be used by the State Duma (Russian Parliament) and the Russian security and protection service. ZIL was not able to build the car since it stopped producing passenger vehicles for almost a decade, and ever since, they only built trucks. A new company was needed to start from scratch.

With some help from Porsche, the final platform was developed, and the car's design was refined by Yuri Chernenko, Aurus' head of the design department. He stated that the vehicle's look was finished after extended researches with potential customers, while the inspiration vehicle was the 1945 ZIS-110 used for the top Russian Communist Party leaders, which was in turn inspired by Packard. To develop the new lineup, NAMI employed Vadim Pereverzev, who had previously worked at FIAT for 15 years, as a chief designer of the Aurus project.

For the production, NAMI asked the Sollers factory specializing in vehicle production to set up the assembly lines for the first Aurus vehicles. The project, which started in 2013, was already closer to the final stage, and the research company focused on the limousine and the minivan more while freezing the SUV project. Also, the carmaker stated that it started to develop a crossover based on the same EMP platform used for the Senat and the Arsenal (the MPV).

The work for the first vehicles continued and, in 2017, the Russian president tested a limousine. Soon after that, the Russian Federal Security Service ordered 16 vehicles. Since the serial assembly plant was not ready, NAMI started to hand-built them and, by the end of that year, it delivered 14 units. In May 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived at the inauguration in a Senat Limousine.


On May 23rd, 2018, the Aurus brand was presented in Moscow and marked the Russian carmaker's birthdate. In the same year, the Tawazun company from the United Arab Emirates became the first investor in the Aurus brand, investing EUR 110 million in the project. By that time, the production location was already established at Alabuga, and at the beginning of 2019, the Aurus LLC carmaker stakeholders were announced: NAMI – 63%, Sollers – 0.5%, and Tawzun with the rest of the 35.5%.

In March 2019, at the Geneva International Motor Show, Aurus unveiled the Senat S600 sedan and the L700 Limousine. The new luxury brand attracted a large crowd around them. Their size and luxury features, developed mostly by NAMI, stood apart from other cars from the show. But soon, Toyota, Michelin, and Lamborghini claimed against the brand name since it was too close to the Auris nameplate, Taurus tire brand (owned by Michelin), and the Urus (Lamborghini SUV). Later on, Lamborghini withdrew its claim.

Apart from the Aurus cars, the Russian company worked on other luxury-oriented vehicles such as custom-made helicopters and even an electric motorcycle.

This research and development automobile and engine institute was established on 14 March 1920 on the basis of Scientific Automobile Laboratory of Scientific and Technical department of VSNKh. This laboratory was established on 16 October 1918. From 1924 the institute permitted purchases of foreign automobiles and automobile accessories. The first original automobile, the NAMI 1, had been developed by 1927 (the first car of the USSR).

During the 1930s the institute became the leading development department of the Soviet automotive industry. Following that year they developed and produced the first Soviet trolleybuses, created several tractor models and several lorry models. For the Red Army half-tracks and armored vehicles had also been actively developed. 

The NAMI-1 is the first car, created in the USSR. It was developed in 1925 by Scientific Automobile Motor Institute (NAMI) on the basis of the graduation project by a young engineer Konstantin Andreevich Sharapov. 403 pieces of the NAMI-1 were made from 1927 till 1930. Today two survived chassis, two factory-assembled cars and several familiar units and aggregates are known today.

senat L700

2018-now

Aurus designed the Senat L700 as the official state limousine of the Russian Federation, created to serve the country's president and highest-ranking officials.

The Aurus Senat Limousine S700 stood at the top of the brand's lineup as a symbol of national engineering capability and prestige. The automaker developed it at the same time as the civilian, Senat S600 vehicle, and this top-shelf version came with an extended wheelbase and additional features. It was built for the head of state and among other owners were the North Korean, the Turkmenistan, and the Russian presidents. Its appearance at national ceremonies marked the first time since Soviet times that a head of state rode in a domestically developed limousine.

Power came from the same 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 hybrid system developed by NAMI in cooperation with Porsche Engineering. It produced approximately 598 horsepower and 880 Nm of torque, paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission. Like its standard-wheelbase stablemate, the L700 was all-wheel drive. The limousine used a reinforced chassis with adaptive suspension, recalibrated to manage the increased weight while preserving ride comfort.

senat S600

2021-now

The Aurus Senat S600 arrived as a Russian-built luxury sedan for the country's elite, positioned just below the stretched L700 limousine reserved for heads of state.

Unveiled as part of Russia's national luxury-car program, the S600 marked the civilian version of the presidential vehicle. It offered the same underlying architecture but targeted business leaders and government officials who wanted a home-grown alternative to imported German or British limousines. Production was initially planned for 2020 but began in 2021 after several delays. Its exterior was styled by Yuri Chernenko, whose design was selected after extensive discussions with a panel of designers and potential customers.

Under the hood, the Aurus S600 used a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 hybrid powertrain developed jointly by NAMI and Porsche engineering, producing around 598 hp  and 880 Nm of torque. A nine-speed automatic transmission sent all the oomph to all corners via a full-time all-wheel-drive system. Ventilated disc brakes and an independent suspension supported the weight and size of the car, and the engineering aimed above the norm for ride comfort and stability.

komendant

2022-now

The Aurus Komendant is a luxury SUV produced by Russian automaker Aurus Motors and developed by NAMI in Moscow, Russia. It is named after the name of the Komendantskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin. The Komendant is part of the Kortezh series of luxury vehicles, which includes the Senat limousine and the Arsenal minivan.

Production was planned for the end of 2020; later these plans were postponed to 2022 and later 2023. The official plan for year 2023 for the SUV is 200 cars. The car's appearance has been compared to that of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, with tail lights comparable to the Bentley Bentayga's.

The engine will be based on a 4.4 V8 hybrid power plant, producing 598 hp. It is mated to a 9 speed automatic transmission. Topspeed is 220 km/h and 0-100 takes 6.5 seconds.

arsenal

2022-now

The Aurus Arsenal is a luxury minivan by Russian automaker Aurus Motors and developed by NAMI in Moscow, Russia.

The Aurus Arsenal is part of the Kortezh series of luxury vehicles, which includes the Senat limousine and the Komendant SUV.

The Aurus Arsenal minivan has the same radiator grille as the Aurus Senat sedan, with its own headlights. A distinctive feature of the Aurus Arsenal is the structure of the rear pillars: they are wide at the bottom, narrow at the top and have a reverse slope. It differs in its hood layout, rather than a carriage one, which allows the placing of engines with larger overall dimensions.

The car is equipped with a hybrid power plant consisting of a 4.4-litre V8 gasoline engine (598 hp) and a nine-speed automatic transmission with an integrated electric motor (with a nominal output of 38 hp and a peak output of 63 hp).

senat 900

2026-now

The new car brand Senat, positioned as a more affordable sub-brand of Aurus, has officially declassified its first model, the Senat 900 sedan. As reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the Vehicle Type Approval (VTA), the car is a deeply redesigned version of the Chinese Hongqi H9 and will be produced at the former Toyota plant in St. Petersburg, where Camry and RAV4 were previously assembled.

Under the hood, there is a 3.0-liter supercharged V6 with a longitudinal arrangement, producing 326 hp. and 450 Nm of torque. Traction is transmitted by an 8-speed hydromechanical automatic transmission to all four wheels via an intelligent all-wheel drive transmission capable of redistributing torque in 0.2 seconds. Acceleration to 100 km/h is declared at the level of 6.5 seconds.

The length of the sedan is 5.14 meters, which makes it a direct competitor to business class cars.

The equipment includes an independent air suspension with adjustable ground clearance, nappa leather and natural wood interior trim, massage and ventilation of the rear seats, as well as a fully Russian media system.