Volkswagen is ending production of its Touareg combustion engine model in 2027 after a quarter of a century of selling the flagship SUV.
The premium model bows out following sales of over 1.2 million units across three generations.
However, with Volkswagen stressing that it’s the end of the combustion engine model, it’s possible that the nameplate could live in on electric form.
Its upcoming departure will be marked with a Touareg Final Edition that brings exclusive design elements, including standout Final Edition branding, with more details and prices to be confirmed soon.
Volkswagen launched the Touareg on the market in 2002 – marking its debut in the premium segment, accompanied by the Phaeton saloon that disappeared a decade ago.
The brand’s first proper offroad vehicle, the Touareg centred around a “timelessly understated design” in keeping with its luxury status, along with high quality standards and comfort as well as many new technical features that later cascaded down the brand’s ranges.
Key sales markets include Europe, and Germany in particular, but the Touareg is currently sold in 39 countries.
When it first landed back in 2002, the Touareg introduced new innovations, such as the electromechanical roll stabilisation or CDC air suspension with six level settings, ensuring it could drive through water up to a depth of 58cm or negotiate slopes with inclines of up to 45 degrees. The crowning Touareg V10 TDI model – on the wish list for many – came with a 313hp five-litre, 10-cylinder engine that accelerated the Touareg to 100km/h (62mph) in 7.8 seconds, despite its 2.5-tonne heft.
The second generation arrived in 2010 and gained in size and standout design. It also heralded the first hybrid vehicle from Volkswagen in the shape of the Touareg 3.0 V6 TSI Hybrid; powered by a combination of a 333hp supercharged V6 petrol engine and a 46hp electric motor. The full hybrid generated 380hp, sending the Touareg II to 100km/h in 6.5 seconds and onto a top speed of 240km (149mph).
Scroll on to 2018 and the third generation of the Touareg upped the pace on styling and also gained a new steel and aluminium body made from weight-saving materials. The completely revamped cockpit introduced digital innovations as well as connectivity and assist systems and an optimised electromechanical active stabilisation system. Since autumn 2020, the Touareg R Hybrid has been the flagship model in the range: a plug-in hybrid SUV with a whopping 462hp of power, maximum torque of 700Nm and a maximum speed of 250km/h (155mph).
Over the three generations, the Touareg has also set new milestones. With the Race Touareg, which was specially developed and raced by Volkswagen Motorsport, Volkswagen became one of the dominant teams in the Dakar Rally.
And in 2006, Volkswagen created a global stir and a world record when a near-production Touareg V10 TDI towed a Boeing 747 weighing around 155 tonnes on an airport runway.
In 2011, the Touareg V6 TDI also showed its endurance and reliability: in just 11 days, 17 hours and 22 minutes, long-distance expert Rainer Zietlow and his team completed the legendary Panamericana – traversing 22,750km and 17 countries while beating the previous world record by four days.