Ursula F9 - The best or nothing.
MK1 (T90): 2015-2020
Prior to that, in 2010 Ursula has made a record sales year of 3.2 million vehicles sold under the brand itself. Thanks to the massive profits, Ursula opened a new plant in Mannheim, Germany the year after, for creating ultra high-end vehicles to compete with the likes of Rolls Royce, Bentley and other similar vehicles.
To compete with the automakers, Ursula originally wanted to create a new brand to differentiate against Ursula, but it was ultimately decided against it after Mercedes-Benz killing of its’ Maybach brand in 2013. They eventually decided using the Ursula nameplate for the high-end luxury vehicle.
Despite these news, development of the car has already on progress. The car’s development has started since 2006, although the recession made Ursula halted it’s development in 2008. However, thanks to better conditions and recovering economy the project, aptly named “T90” was revived under a new team led by Ursula’s chief engineer, Hans Dieter.
With more than 1 billion euros spent on development, the project finally came to fruition in 2015. As a (belated) celebration of Ursula’s 60th anniversary, the F9 was officially released in Frankfurt Auto Show that year. Produced exclusively at Ursula’s aforementioned plant in Mannheim, the F9 symbols the new flagship of Ursula, and the company’s official entry to the ultra-luxury market.
The F9 was carefully sculpted to create a new feel for every buyer, whether is a long-time Ursula aficionado or a new buyer who wants something different. The car was fully designed for both the driver and the passenger alike, and utilizing premium materials, with the highest quality.
Based from an all-new platform and AHS steel unibody chassis, the luxury sedan ensures much better safety, a better ride and handling from unique suspension tuning despite weighting as much as 2760 kilos. The only engine that moves the car is an all-new 6.0 liter turbocharged V12 DOHC generating 567 PS (417 kW) and 856 Nm of torque, giving the car a brisk 5.5 seconds run from standstill to 100 km/h. Top speed is electronically limited to 250 km/h.
Besides that, the F9 is also a host of all-new tech. The F9 is the first-ever Ursula to have autonomous driving thanks to the advanced Smart Drive Assist system. The Smart Drive Assist system utilizes Level 3 automation (later models have Level 4 automation), and also the first Ursula to have external airbags, third-generation Ursula DriveSense active comfort suspension and a 48V power supply.
Inside the car there’s a host of ultra-luxury kit specially created for the car. Optional wool seats, 35-speaker sound system, self-darkening electric sunroof and a 11.5 inch infotainment cluster are just part of the car’s standard kit. Options are available too, ranging from choices of colours and interior combos to specialized optional equipment such as perfumed AC system and massaged seats.
The car is fully hand-built in Ursula’s Mannheim plant. A specialized team, consists only of 70 highly-skilled builders was formed to produce the car entirely by hand. Each car was built, inspected and tested for the highest standards by a group of experts. Thus, the production of each car could take up a week or more.
Thanks to it’s high quality and superb luxury, the car was chosen as the new official state car for the President of Germany starting from the year 2016, replacing the increasingly dated 2009 Ursula F71. But despite the honour, civilian models didn’t quite sold well to be exact. The major factor of this is it’s low availability (since each car needed to be hand-made), high price (the base models of the F9 cost more than USD 500,000, which is too expensive compared to it’s competition) and buyers have mostly started to buy SUVs instead of sedans.
This year, Ursula has officially confirmed that the F9 will be stopped production in 2020. Only 1600 units were produced, lower than expected. Despite that, the car is surprisingly, gave loads of profit to the company itself. Plans for a next-generation is still going underway, and unlike the first gen, the second-gen F9 will be only sold in it’s home country, and some rumors claimed that the new car will be fully-electric.
Nevertheless, the F9 is a symbol to make new roads for a increasingly shrinking market segment, and an ambitious yet failed attempt to create a new flagship for a new era.
Notes:
1: Germany does have a president lol. Check Wikipedia for more info.
2: And yes, why would I really try to forgot this thread?
