The Volkswagen Touareg has been confirmed as part of the brand’s ‘complete SUV offering’ following the introduction of the new seven-seat Tayron large SUV to the local lineup.
The Touareg name has been a mainstay in local showrooms since 2003 as the first SUV in Volkswagen showrooms, and competes with a raft of rivals including the BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE and Volvo XC90.
With the current third generation now seven years old, recent reports from Europe suggested Touareg production will end in 2026 and that it won’t be replaced.
In stark contrast to its introduction more than two decades ago, Volkswagen now offers half a dozen other SUVs in its lineup to sate customers.
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Further adding weight to the rumours, only the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Touareg R has low enough carbon-dioxide emissions to meet Australia’s 2026 New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), setting the company up for financial penalties for each diesel Touareg sold.
The flagship Touareg R is the only PHEV in Volkswagen Australia showrooms, but Tiguan and Tayron PHEVs have been confirmed and are scheduled to arrive here in the first half of 2026.
The Touareg’s departure would leave the new Tayron SUV – a long-wheelbase version of the new Tiguan SUV with an available third row of seats – as the brand’s flagship.
At the recent launch of the Tayron, Volkswagen Australia said the new Tayron wouldn’t take sales off the Touareg, with no plans to drop the older nameplate, which it said appeals to a different audience.
“The Touareg is a completely different model concept,” Volkswagen Australia’s head of product, Arjun Nidigallu, told CarExpert.
“It’s a very different proposition, plus it’s not a seven-seater – Tayron buyers are typically looking for a seven-seater, and Touareg buyers are looking for that statement capability car.”
The Tayron replaces the Tiguan Allspace, with the local arm telling CarExpert the new identity will help clearly distinguish the SUV from both the smaller five-seat-only Tiguan and the larger Touareg it sits between.
Volkswagen’s SUV lineup starts with the entry-level T-Cross and is capped by the Touareg – for now.
Despite offering plenty of SUVs in a market hungry for them, overall Volkswagen brand sales are down 18.2 per cent year-to-date.
However, Volkswagen has delivered 585 Touaregs this year to the end of August, marking an improvement of 13.6 per cent on the same period last year – and outperforming its large SUV segment’s 3.8 per cent growth.
Mr Nidigallu said the Touareg plays a unique role in the lineup and will stay on despite the introduction of a more defined, large SUV in the Tayron.
“[Touareg] replaces your old-school estate [wagon] tourer in the new SUV-dominated world, so a lot of customers who would go into a tourer class are certainly in the Touareg now,” he told CarExpert.
“The Touareg is also a different capability car,” he added.
“You’re talking three-tonne-plus towing capacity, six-cylinder diesel [engine] and it’s a huge statement car; people buy it because it’s flagship, people know it’s the same platform as the [Audi] Q7, [Bentley] Bentayga and the [Lamborghini] Urus.”