VW News: 2019 Volkswagen Touareg Becomes Lighter and Adds More Tech

[William Maley]

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The current Volkswagen Touareg is the last one we'll ever see as the Atlas will take its place as Volkswagen's SUV/Crossover flagship. For other markets, Volkswagen has revealed an all-new Touareg.

The new model looks to be a mashup of Audi and Volkswagen design themes. A set of angled headlights are integrated into a large front grille. Strong creases run along the side and rear. Volkswagen has made the new Touareg longer and wider, but has also has dropped 234 pounds due to the extensive use of aluminum.

Inside, the new Touareg looks very upmarket in terms of design and materials. The optional Innovision Cockpit system merges a 12-inch digital instrument cluster with a 15-inch display for the infotainment system. There are also numerous tech features such as night vision, adaptive cruise control, cross-traffic alert. LED matrix lights, and active roll bars.

At launch, Volkswagen will offer two diesel V6 engines providing either 228 or 282 horsepower. A gas V6, diesel V8, and plug-in hybrid will follow.

The 2019 Volkswagen Touareg goes on sale later this year.

Source: Volkswagen
Press Release is on Page 2

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Leading the way – Volkswagen presents the new Touareg

• In its most important market: Volkswagen is presenting the brand's new flagship in China
• Milestone of the SUV campaign: Touareg shows Volkswagen's claim in the premium class
• The power of the brand: Touareg is a statement on design, technology, handling and comfort
• Success story: around one million Touareg SUVs built to date

Volkswagen is making a statement by staging a world premiere of a new model for the first time in China – its largest market. The new Touareg1 marks a milestone in the brand's largest model and technology campaign, and it shows what engineers and designers at Volkswagen can do. The new flagship takes a top position in the premium class SUV segment with its expressive design, its innovative operating, convenience and safety systems, as well as in the high quality of its materials and craftsmanship.   

Premiere of the Innovision Cockpit. Volkswagen is presenting the fully digitalised Innovision Cockpit for the first time in the new Touareg. Here the digital instruments (Digital Cockpit with 12-inch display) and the top Discover Premium infotainment system (with 15-inch display) merge to form a digital operating, information, communication and entertainment unit that hardly needs any conventional buttons or switches. Always-on, offering intuitive control and maximum personalisation – with the Innovision Cockpit, the Touareg provides the blueprint for tomorrow's digital interior today.

A focus on people. Drivers use the Innovision Cockpit to adapt the assistance, handling and comfort systems specifically to their personal tastes; the car becomes 'their' Touareg. This opens up a world in which the driver and on-board guests no longer have to adapt to the car; rather the car adapts to them. Like a new smartphone, the Volkswagen is set up and tuned to personal needs. This is made possible by a new high level of connected systems and programmes – controlled via digital interfaces and the multifunction steering wheel.

Fusion of new assistance, handling and comfort systems. The Touareg is launching with the largest range of assistance, handling and comfort systems ever to be integrated into a Volkswagen. They include technologies such as the Night Vision assistance system (detects people and animals in darkness via a thermal imaging camera), Roadwork Lane Assist (semi-automated steering and lane keeping, accelerating and braking up to 60 km/h), Front Cross Traffic Assist (reacts to cross traffic in front of the Touareg), active all-wheel steering (makes the Touareg handle like a compact car), new roll stabilisation with electromechanically controlled anti-roll bars, 'IQ.Light – LED matrix headlights' (interactive, camera-based dipped and main beam headlight control) and a 'Windshield Head-up Display' projected directly onto the windscreen.

The driver experiences these systems as a single unit in the new Touareg. They are simply there – interconnected via a new central control unit – working imperceptibly in the background and making travel safer, more convenient and more intuitive than ever.

New dimensions and reduced weight. Compared to its predecessor, the third generation Touareg is moderately wider and longer. The new dimensions have positive effects on both the vehicle's proportions and its amount of interior space. The added exterior length leads, for example, to a significant increase in luggage capacity, from 697 to 810 litres (with rear bench seat up). Cargo there is hidden from onlookers by an optional electrically extending and retracting luggage compartment cover. Despite its increased length and width, the car body is 106 kg lighter because of its mixed material construction of aluminium (48 per cent) and high-tech steels (52 per cent).

Launch with V6 engines. In Europe, Volkswagen will initially offer two V6 diesel engines for the new 2018 Touareg with outputs of 170 kW / 231 PS and 210 kW / 286 PS. In a number of markets, this will also be followed by a V6 petrol engine (250 kW / 340 PS) and a V8 turbodiesel (310 kW / 421 PS). A new plug-in hybrid drive (270 kW / 367 PS of system power) is being prepared for China; its exact launch date in Europe is still open.

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[Drew Dowdell]

That's odd... I thought the Touareg was getting canceled. 

Anyway... this should be proof in the pudding once and for all of who is right about FWD v RWD in crossovers, me or @smk4565.  

Since the Touareg is RWD biased, it should fly off the lots at a much higher rate than the FWD Atlas according to SMK.  Since they're both basically brand new and from the same manufacturer, this is just about the fairest comparison possible. I think the Atlas will do better.  I'll even give the Touareg a percentage handicap based on price (10% higher price means it can sell 10% lower in numbers, etc)

 

Who do you think will win this one?

[G. David Felt]

FWD Atlas!

[loki]

i skimmed it. decent diet it went on.

what are active roll bars?

[smk4565]

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

That's odd... I thought the Touareg was getting canceled. 

Anyway... this should be proof in the pudding once and for all of who is right about FWD v RWD in crossovers, me or @smk4565.  

Since the Touareg is RWD biased, it should fly off the lots at a much higher rate than the FWD Atlas according to SMK.  Since they're both basically brand new and from the same manufacturer, this is just about the fairest comparison possible. I think the Atlas will do better.  I'll even give the Touareg a percentage handicap based on price (10% higher price means it can sell 10% lower in numbers, etc)

 

Who do you think will win this one?

The Toureg is expensive, it is more like a 50% price difference.   And my guess is there is a good profit margin on them.   You can have both FWD and RWD SUVs, but GM already has Buick and GMC filled with FWD SUVS in the $25-45k segment, you don't really need 3 more Cadillac SUVs between $30-50k.  Because I can almost guarantee Cadillac does an SUV below XT4, because XT4 is the size of a GLC or X3.

[smk4565]

The interior looks pretty sweet, very well done.

[Frisky Dingo]

4 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

That's odd... I thought the Touareg was getting canceled. 

Anyway... this should be proof in the pudding once and for all of who is right about FWD v RWD in crossovers, me or @smk4565.  

Since the Touareg is RWD biased, it should fly off the lots at a much higher rate than the FWD Atlas according to SMK.  Since they're both basically brand new and from the same manufacturer, this is just about the fairest comparison possible. I think the Atlas will do better.  I'll even give the Touareg a percentage handicap based on price (10% higher price means it can sell 10% lower in numbers, etc)

 

Who do you think will win this one?

 

The Touareg was never in danger of being cancelled. They just had no plans to bring the new one to NA. 

Which I think is dumb. This is the first generation that could have been a sales success, and they are just giving up on it. 

[regfootball]

nice, but wasnt there just a 2 row atlas concept?  if they plug that dike in their US market here, it will be with a 2 row (cheaper) Atlas.  I think in limited numbers and with the right engine this could sell a few here.

[Frisky Dingo]

53 minutes ago, regfootball said:

nice, but wasnt there just a 2 row atlas concept?  if they plug that dike in their US market here, it will be with a 2 row (cheaper) Atlas.  I think in limited numbers and with the right engine this could sell a few here.

 

This will be a much different vehicle in execution to the 2-row Atlas. This will be way nicer, and way more capable. 

The Atlas could be 2.0T or 3.6 V6 (or hell, even just make it 2.0T only) w/ FWD or AWD, and the Touareg would be 3.0T V6 only in our market. Atlas would start just under 30K, and like the current 7 seater, run up close to/right at 50K. The Touareg would be starting at that point. They would serve two very different buyers. 

[Robert Hall]

The Atlas is their American family wagon--competitor for the Explorer, Highlander, Pilot, etc while the Touareg competes in the Europeanluxury niche against the Q7, X5, GLE, etc...

[Robert Hall]

On 3/23/2018 at 7:34 PM, Frisky Dingo said:

 

The Touareg was never in danger of being cancelled. They just had no plans to bring the new one to NA. 

Which I think is dumb. This is the first generation that could have been a sales success, and they are just giving up on it. 

They were probably afraid it would steal sales from the Atlas or Audi.