VW Bids Farewell To Its Porsche Cayenne Wannabe With A Final Edition
Since being introduced in 2002 (and in 2004 in America), the Volkswagen Touareg has amassed over 1.2 million sales, and there's time for just a few more before the current iteration goes away. VW has announced a new Final Edition for the last year of production of the current Touareg, and it's got plenty of upgrades to help it stand apart. Available on all trims, the Final Edition gets laser-engraved lettering on the C-pillars and a similar script on the door sill plaques. There's also Final Edition embossing on the leather-trimmed gear lever, and the ambient lighting in the cabin (on Elegance and higher trims) provides yet another reminder of the model's special nature on the passenger side of the dashboard. Indeed, these are pretty minor upgrades for a vehicle that has been so popular. In Europe, the Final Edition is priced at €75,025, or around $87,400 at current exchange rates.
The Touareg Has Been Gone From America For A Long Time
In the U.S., the Touareg was discontinued after the 2017 model year and replaced with the larger Atlas three-row, but until then, approximately 121,385 examples were sold on American soil. Sharing underpinnings with the Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, the MLB Evo-based SUV provided plenty of performance and luxury for a not-too-lofty price, but while its overall sales figures look good, it's become something of a niche product, and as Volkswagen looks to streamline and simplify, there's no room for a vehicle that doesn't generate huge returns. Its place will now effectively be taken by the MQB-based Tayron SUV, which offers five- and seven-seat configurations and is suitable for the global market.
The Touareg May Not Be Gone For Good
Interestingly, the announcement of this runout model says that the "current Touareg generation ends with a Final Edition," which could imply that Volkswagen still has plans for the nameplate. Another line in the release says that "production of the Touareg combustion engine model ends in 2026," again hinting that VW still wants to keep the name alive. This theory is supported by a recent report from German publication Automobilwoche, which claims that the Touareg may return as an all-electric SUV, though whether this version will make its way Stateside remains to be seen. If the report is accurate, the new SUV will arrive as the first model on Volkswagen's next-generation Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) architecture, which is also reported to form the basis of the next electric Golf. The question is, would there be a market for a premium three-row VW SUV with electric bones here in America?
What's Your Reaction?
Like
0
Dislike
0
Love
0
Funny
0
Angry
0
Sad
0
Wow
0
