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The rumours have been true: manufacturing of the present Volkswagen Touareg will finish quickly, with a newly revealed Closing Version which has been confirmed for Australia, earlier than order books shut for good in March 2026.
However whereas Volkswagen has confirmed the final combustion-powered model of its flagship SUV will likely be retired inside months, studies counsel the nameplate might return on a brand new electrical car (EV) later this decade.
Commemorating the mannequin’s 23 years in showrooms and 1.2 million international gross sales throughout 39 nations since 2002, the Touareg Closing Version – primarily based on the prevailing third-generation mannequin launched in 2018 after which facelifted in 2023 – brings good-looking beauty upgrades in and out.
“We will affirm the Touareg Closing Version for Australia and count on the Touareg to stay in native showrooms properly into 2026,” a Volkswagen Australia spokesperson informed CarExpert.
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In Europe, the Closing Version therapy is offered throughout all 4 mannequin grades – Touareg, Class, R-Line and R – and all different variants have disappeared from the German automaker’s public web sites.
Australian pricing and particulars for the farewell-edition Touareg are but to be introduced, and Volkswagen has not revealed what number of examples will likely be obtainable right here, nor the way it fill the void on the prime of its native vary as soon as shares are exhausted.
Touareg gross sales have been constant in Australia up to now this 12 months, with 633 registrations in comparison with 623 in the identical interval in 2024, which greater than many rivals together with the Volvo XC90 (571 gross sales), however properly behind the Land Rover Defender (3033) and BMW X5 (2764), the nation’s hottest premium ($80,000-plus) massive SUVs.
Talking on the current launch of the brand new Tayron – an extended model of the Tiguan mid-size SUV providing seven seats – Volkswagen Australia’s head of product, Arjun Nidigallu, informed CarExpert the flagship SUV occupies a novel area.
“[Touareg] replaces your old-school property [wagon] tourer within the new SUV-dominated world, so numerous prospects who would go right into a tourer class are definitely within the Touareg now,” Mr Nidigallu stated.
“The Touareg can also be a special functionality automobile; you’re speaking three-tonne-plus towing capability, six-cylinder diesel [engine], and it’s an enormous assertion automobile,” he added.
“Individuals purchase it as a result of it’s flagship. Individuals understand it’s [based on] the identical platform because the [Audi] Q7, [Bentley] Bentayga and the [Lamborghini] Urus.”
However the Touareg title is probably not lifeless without end, with a report from Automobilwoche suggesting Volkswagen plans to reintroduce the badge on a battery-electric mannequin in 2029.
The unconfirmed studies counsel the primary Touareg EV can even be the primary mannequin from the Volkswagen Group – which additionally contains Porsche, Cupra, and Skoda – to be primarily based on the corporate’s new dedicated-electric Scalable Techniques Platform (SSP).
The Touareg stays Volkswagen’s largest mannequin and at present the model’s solely plug-in hybrid car (PHEV) in native showrooms, however it’s set to be joined by PHEV variations of the Tiguan and Tayron in 2026.
The V6 turbo-diesel that powers different Touareg variants exceeds the CO2 limits decreed by the Australian Authorities’s New Automobile Effectivity Customary (NVES) in 2026, which means it’s going to appeal to monetary penalties which might be countered by larger showroom costs.
Touareg costs at present vary between $89,490 and $133,490 earlier than on-road prices in Australian, making them considerably decrease than their key rivals, though Volkswagen’s largest SUV stays solely a five-seater.
MORE: Discover the Volkswagen Touareg showroom
