CarBrandLogos archive · Volkswagen · 2002

VolkswagenTouareg

Volkswagen's luxury off-roader, engineered alongside a Porsche.

Photo: Alexander-93 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Volkswagen history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Volkswagen Touareg, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Volkswagen and Porsche developed their first SUVs together, sharing a platform and a factory at Bratislava, with Volkswagen doing much of the underlying engineering and Porsche concentrating on making its version drive like a Porsche. The Touareg arrived in 2002 as the Volkswagen half of that deal, and it was a considerably more serious vehicle than the market expected from the brand.

VW Race Touareg 2 blue vr EMS

Design and engineering

The hardware was genuine. Permanent four-wheel drive with a locking centre differential, an optional locking rear differential, a two-speed transfer case with low range, and height-adjustable air suspension gave it real off-road capability rather than the appearance of it. Engines ranged from a V6 to a W12, and — most memorably — a 5.0-litre V10 TDI whose torque output was used for a well-publicised stunt in which a standard Touareg towed a Boeing 747 across an airport apron.

2007-2008 Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI 03 · OSX · Public domain

In production

Volkswagen also went rally raiding with the name, though the Race Touareg that won the Dakar Rally three times from 2009 was a bespoke diesel prototype with almost nothing in common with the road car. What the showroom vehicle actually achieved was more prosaic and more important: it established that Volkswagen could sell a large, expensive vehicle profitably, and it funded the Q7 and Cayenne generations that followed.

Carlos Sainz Dakar2011 · Eduardo Díaz González · CC BY 2.0

Legacy

Three generations were built, the third from 2018. Production is scheduled to end in 2026, with no direct replacement — the segment moving, as everything is, towards electric.

At a glance