YEKATERINBURG, July 8. /TASS/. Russia’s armored presidential limousine Aurus Senat is presented at the industrial exhibition INNOPROM in Russia's city of Yekaterinburg. Deputy Director for marketing and commerce for the car’s development company, NAMI Denis Dryagin told TASS the car was originally designed as an armored one.

"The unique feature of our presidential limousine design is that most cars [for such missions] are initially produced and designed unarmored, and later engineers start racking their brains for ways to add armor to a car," he said. "We went the other way round — first we manufactured an armored car, then made an armored sedan based on the armored limousine, and then an unarmored sedan. Thus, the component responsible for security was thought out in the first place," he said.

Dryagin noted that due to such a design scheme, it became possible to improve the comfort of the car. "We had the opportunity to look at the limousine used by the president for travelling before, and to ask the driver and other staff about any preferences," he said. "Since the car was originally designed as an armored vehicle, we did not sacrifice the inner space," Dryagin explained.

The vehicle was developed as part of the Cortege project by NAMI (Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automotive Engines Institute) in Moscow.

Initially the aim of the Cortege project was to design a limousine for the Russian president. The project by now includes a line of cars on the basis of a single platform (sedan, limousine, minivan and sport utility vehicle (SUV)). The limousine was first used during the inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 2018. Then, the cars went on display during the Moscow International Auto Salon on August 29, 2018.