Volkswagen gave a world premiere in China to a near production prototype of the new Touareg SUV, their brand’s largest model.
Volkswagen boasts that 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.
The third generation Touareg should arrive in Ireland in the summer with an expected entry level price somewhere between €70,000 to €75,000.
It is the most technically advanced Volkswagen of its era, according to Volkswagen, with the potential to enthuse and reach new target groups of drivers.
Volkswagen presents their new fully digitalised ‘Innovision Cockpit’ for the first time in the new Touareg. Here the digital instruments (Digital Cockpit with 12-inch display ) and what they call 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.
It is always-on, and Volkswagen claims that that it offers intuitive control and maximum personalisation. It adds that with the the Innovision Cockpit the Touareg provides the blueprint for tomorrow's digital interior today.
Drivers will be able to use the Innovision Cockpit to adapt the assistance, handling and comfort systems specifically to their personal tastes, so that the car becomes 'their' Touareg.
The manufacturer boasts that 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, which detects people and animals in darkness via a thermal imaging camera, and 'Roadwork Lane Assist'.
Added to these are 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 electro-mechanically controlled anti-roll bars, and a 'Windshield Head-up Display' projected directly onto the windscreen.
Volkswagen says that 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.
Compared to its predecessor, the third generation Touareg is moderately wider and longer. Volkswagen says that 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 good increase in luggage capacity, from 697 to 810 litres (with rear bench seat up ). Cargo there can be hidden from onlookers by an optional extra electrically extending and retracting luggage compartment cover.
In Europe, Volkswagen will initially offer two V6 diesel engines for the new 2018 Touareg, with outputs of 170kW / 231PS and 210kW / 286PS. 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 ).
Contact one of Michael Moore's sales team on (090 ) 6403444 or visit www.michaelmooreathlonevw.ie for more details on the Volkswagen range.
