Volkswagen Touareg Final Edition, the farewell to a symbol
The Touareg says goodbye to the market after more than 20 years of presence with a special version
In 2002, Volkswagen decided to create a car capable of competing in the premium and aspirational segment with a large, powerful, technologically advanced, and refined SUV with a monocoque chassis and permanent all-wheel drive system capable of competing with rivals such as the BMW X5, the Range Rover Sport, the Jeep Grand Cheroke Cayenne, and the Audi Q7, models with which it shared many modular elements. The model quickly gained popularity thanks to its performances in competitions such as the Dakar Rally and the Baja California Race, among others.
The Touareg has been in our market without any major modifications since 2018, when Volkswagen presented its third generation, which we were able to test thoroughly a few years ago, and now it's saying goodbye with a commemorative final edition. This edition, called the Final Edition, features commemorative plaques on the body, doors, and gearshift knob, and will be available until March 2026 at a price of 75,025 euros.
Throughout its 23-year history, the Touareg has sold more than 1.2 million units in 39 different countries, with details and innovations that the brand prototyped and applied to this aspirational family SUV, which soon became the industrial pride of Volkswagen.
Elements like the air suspension and the powerful V10 diesel engine (or V10, if you prefer) made the Touareg a true icon and a halo of the brand. Other innovations, such as Volkswagen's first hybrid system, launched with the second-generation Touareg in 2010, and the Travel Assist system debuted with the third-generation model in 2018, made it the standard-bearer of technology and innovation for the Wolfsburg brand. A Touareg was even the first model to debut the autonomous driving system in 2005, completing a 212-kilometer journey through the Nevada desert without human intervention.
Farewell to combustion
Times have changed, and the large diesel and gasoline combustion engines that a vehicle like the Touareg requires to move reliably have dictated the final outcome of the model. Volkswagen plans to replace the Touareg with a new fully electric large, aspirational family SUV, which could very well revert to the current model's name. However, we'll have to wait at least a year to see how Volkswagen implements its new roadmap toward electrification in the aspirational and large SUV segment.