The third-generation Volkswagen Touareg may have only been launched in Malaysia last year, but globally the nameplate already looks to be headed the way of the dodo. Autocar reports that the mass market-badged premium SUV is set to be discontinued next year with no successor planned, citing company insiders.
Wolfsburg’s impending move will draw a line under its upmarket ambitions, the carmaker having introduced the original – twinned, let’s not forget, with the Porsche Cayenne and (eventually) the Audi Q7 – in 2002 not long after the ill-fated Phaeton sedan. It also represents a shift in priorities for the brand, which is now aimed at a wider swath of buyers through more accessible premium models.
The role of Volkswagen’s flagship SUV will soon be assumed by the Tayron, essentially a stretched version of the Tiguan. It’s offered in either petrol, mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants – the latter delivering up to 100 km of all-electric range – and comes with the added practicality of seven seats and the ability to tow up to 2,500 kg.
While the Touareg will soon be no more, its premium-badged siblings will almost certainly live on, such as the Cayenne, Bentley Bentayga, Lamborghini Urus and Q7. The last of these is of course CKD locally assembled in Pekan, Pahang alongside the Touareg.
Volkswagen has also decided to axe the slow-selling ID.5, a coupé-style version of the electric ID.4 SUV. The car debuted in 2021 with aspirations of conquering the Chinese market but has failed to gain traction there, while in Europe it has fallen victim to shrinking EV demand and buyers’ preference for its more practical sibling. It will go away in 2027 as part of a broader consolidation of VW’s lineup with a greater focus on high-volume models.
Future models have also been affected, with a smaller variant of the ID.Buzz MPV – previously discussed within the company as a potential Touran replacement – being put on the back burner. “We looked at it, but the market is demanding crossovers and SUV models,” said a source close to CEO Thomas Schäfer. “This is the direction we ultimately decided to go in.”
This decision was partly put down to VW’s R&D capacity being pushed to the limit for the development of more important models, such as the all-electric next-generation Golf.
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