Next Volkswagen Touareg to become an EV model

The Volkswagen Touareg appears set to enter its next iteration as a battery-electric vehicle in order for the brand to continue offering a flagship model to its more affluent customers, Autocar has reported. With the brand’s flagship SUV having been on sale for 24 years, the current-generation Touareg is set to be discontinued as Volkswagen focuses more on high-volume, mainstream models.

There is still a space in the market for upmarket cars which are not premium-branded, which the Touareg and the discontinued Phaeton were meant to serve, said Volkswagen brand boardmember for sales Martin Sander. This would appear to give the Touareg a new lease of life, as it was previously reported to be cut from the product line-up as the brand aims for volume.

“We are the brand for the people, and that’s what our name stands for,” Sander said, adding that the brand’s top priority is to continue “creating great vehicles” which are affordable to a wide range of customers. Sander however also added that the “Touareg is not huge business, but it’s got its place and this is why we are looking into opportunities for a next generation.”

“This market is somewhere between the volume and premium market and is for customers who want a vehicle with great design and space, and a very high level of quality and sophistication but, for whatever reason, do not want to be associated with a premium brand. This is the Touareg target group and we’re looking into possibilities to serve these customers with a future product,” he told the publication.

The next-generation Touareg would continue to be a large SUV “because 80% of that market is SUVs”, said Sander, who also confirmed that it will become a fully electric model. This electric successor would likely use the manufacturer’s SSP architecture, and arrive after the next-generation Golf that is also set to be battery-electric, albeit also with ICE powertrains, according to the report.

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