The Volkswagen Touareg has ceased production globally, with Australian stocks to dry up at the tail end of this year – but the German brand hasn’t closed the door on a flagship product above the Tayron SUV.
Speaking with CarExpert at the launch of the new Tiguan and Tayron eHybrid PHEV SUVs, VW Australia’s brand director and head of product hinted at the next chapter for halo products.
“It is definitely important for the brand to have a halo product and to have a flagship, as you call it, Touareg is doing an excellent job,” said Piergiorgio Minto, brand director for Volkswagen Passenger Vehicles Australia.
“For the future, we are having a look into some products that could substitute the Touareg in this kind of role for the market, so I cannot tell you too much about that, but for what we are discussing now, it looks like that role will be fully taken over by one of these products.”
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Mr Minto also suggested the new halo car doesn’t necessarily have to be an SUV.
“We need a car that, I don’t want to say segment exactly, but a large car that is taking that role [in our lineup],” VW’s local passenger vehicles boss said.
Looking elsewhere in the world and setting aside the moribund Touareg, Volkswagen’s global passenger vehicle flagship is the electric ID.7 – available as a liftback or a Tourer (wagon) – which is effectively an EV equivalent to the latest Passat which isn’t sold in Australia.
Available with 77kWh and 86kWh battery packs, as well as single- and dual-motor electric powertrains, the ID.7 quotes WLTP driving range of over 700km, with 200kW DC charging capability able to replenish 10-80 per cent charge in “about 26 minutes”.
In the UK, the ID.7 range kicks off around £51,000 (A$96,153) which, while direct conversion seems astronomical, is only a few thousand quid more than a decked-out Golf R, which in Australia starts from $71,990 plus on-road costs.
Another option could be the return of the aforementioned Passat, which while no longer sold in Australia lives on in Europe and the UK as a lightly restyled twin to the Skoda Superb, which is on sale here.
The Passat is a large flagship wagon – the sedan body style was dropped for the latest generation, except in China – and offers a heavily electrified engine range (though no EV to avoid stepping on the ID.7’s tyres).
In the right-hand drive UK market, the flagship drivetrain is the 200kW 1.5 TSI eHybrid familiar from the Tiguan and Tayron, boasting over 120km of combined WLTP EV driving range from its 19.7kWh battery, and a 0-100km/h claim of 7.2 seconds.
Cheaper 110kW mild-hybrid versions are also available in the UK, so it’s unclear whether Volkswagen Australia could offer a more Australian-oriented 195kW 2.0 TSI 4Motion AWD variant like Skoda offers in the Superb Sportline.
Further, given slowing sales of larger sedans and wagons in Australia, the Passat seems less likely to return to Australia given Skoda already occupies the dwindling segment.
“We keep an eye on every one of our global factories to see if there are opportunities,” said Arjun Nidigallu, head of product for Volkswagen Passenger Vehicles Australia.
“We’re looking at… South Africa, where we get our Polos from now, we’re looking at South America, and China’s just another country on the list that we look at.
“We look at lots of advantages around shipping routes, and all this kind of stuff. So we are weighing those things up at the moment as we speak.
“But, the flagship is important, and it will be filled by another model – but nothing more to share on that just yet,” Mr Nidigallu added.
Looking at Volkswagen’s South American and South African regional divisions, the Tayron appears to be the largest model produced domestically for those markets – which begs the question, what’s coming to sit above that?
China, however, is another world for the Volkswagen brand. The German automaker’s joint-venture with SAIC recently revealed the ID. Era 9X, an upper-large six-seat extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) that’s longer than the Touareg (5207mm v 4902mm).
Three different powertrain variants have been confirmed for the ID. Era 9X in China, though all versions use a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine from the Volkswagen EA211 modular engine family which, as a range-extender, acts solely as a generator to recharge the battery.
The entry-level version uses a 51.1kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack, delivering a claimed electric driving range of 267km on the CLTC cycle.
A larger 65.2kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery increases electric range to 340km, paired with a 220kW electric motor driving the rear wheels. Volkswagen claims fuel consumption of 5.9L/100km for both rear-wheel drive versions.
An all-wheel drive version uses the larger 65.2kWh battery and adds a front-axle motor, delivering a combined output of 380kW, a claimed electric range of 321km and fuel consumption of 6.3L/100km.
It’s unclear whether VW is looking to expand its EREV powertrain technologies beyond the confines of the Chinese market, though it has previously confirmed EREVs under the new Scout off-roader brand for the US market, albeit nothing for the Volkswagen Group’s namesake brand.
Bloomberghas reported the Volkswagen brand is considering whether to offer EREVs in the United States and Europe, given the rising popularity of hybrids in those markets over the past 12 months. Given Mr Nidigallu’s comments around advantageous shipping routes, that could also put Australia on the map.
In the meantime, the Touareg – which shares its MLB evo architecture with everything from the Audi Q7 and Q8 to the Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus – has reportedly ceased production in the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant in Slovakia as of the end of March 2026.
VW Australia says it has secured enough supply of final units to see the local market through towards the end of the year, including the Wolfsburg Edition swansong model based on the European market’s Final Edition.
Priced from $124,990 plus on-road costs, the Touareg 210TDI Wolfsburg Edition adds unique design and equipment appointments over the R-Line version it replaces, as well as offering usually optional features as standard or cheaper than usual.
All other 2026 Touareg models also pick up special ‘Final Edition’ interior appliques.