After more than two decades at the top of VW's model range, the Touareg is retiring. According to reports, the flagship SUV will cease production by 2026, with no direct replacement planned, Autoblog reports, writes UNN.
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Instead, VW will focus on more affordable and versatile models, such as the Tayron, thereby ending one of the most influential SUVs of the last 25 years.
Launched in 2002, the Touareg was a breakthrough for Volkswagen - a premium mid-size SUV built on the Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne platforms. Over three generations, it evolved into a high-tech cruiser with air suspension, a plug-in hybrid powertrain, and all-wheel steering - all on the MLB Evo platform.
Despite its brilliant features, the Touareg has always been a niche product. Never sold in the US after 2017, it found success in Europe and China, but never matched the unstoppable sales growth of more popular VW models. And now, with increasing tariffs and shrinking margins, Volkswagen is aiming for simplification. As the brand pivots to the new generation ID.4 to compete with the Tesla Model Y, expensive SUVs like the Touareg no longer make financial sense.
Volkswagen's strategy now relies on the Tayron, an MQB-based SUV offering five- and seven-seat configurations, hybrid powertrains, and broader market appeal. It is expected to be VW's largest SUV in several regions, including Europe and parts of Asia, filling the niche left by the Touareg, but with a more attractive price and higher sales potential.
This move is part of a broader VW effort to protect profits amid rising costs. The brand's latest earnings report showed high sales but a sharp drop in profitability, especially in segments with a high share of exports. This has pushed VW to refocus on flexible platforms and higher-margin vehicles.
Notably, while VW is abandoning its luxury internal combustion engine SUV, the company is not yet abandoning ICE. The Golf GTI will continue to be produced in the 2030s, even as the company continues to electrify models like the ID.3, ID.4, and prepares for the release of the ID.2. The place where the flag of gasoline engines flies is changing: now it is not at the top of the model range, but in enthusiast hatchbacks and ordinary city cars.
The discontinuation of the Touareg closes a chapter in Volkswagen's luxury ambitions. While the brand may not return, its legacy - a SUV that proved VW was capable of the premium segment - will live on, influencing the entire concern, from the Cayenne to the Bentayga.
Now that VW is shifting its focus to electrification, affordability, and global flexibility, it's clear that the Touareg doesn't fit the overall concept. But whatever it was - a diesel, a sporty V8 with air suspension, an oddball with dedicated and obscure fans - it will be missed, the publication notes.
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