Volkswagen Touareg R may come here after all

The Volkswagen Touareg R could now become available in Australia, where it would replace the sold-out Volkswagen Touareg V8 TDI and as the permanent flagship of the large SUV range.

If approved for local release, the Volkswagen Touareg R would also top an R-car onslaught from the German car-maker, which last month declared 2022 as the ‘Year of the R’ when the new Golf R, T-Roc R and Tiguan R will arrive Down Under.

The Volkswagen Touareg R is a plug-in hybrid model that was completely off the cards for Australia just 12 months ago – as with other VW PHEV models – due to poor Australian fuel quality, according to Volkswagen.

Now, however, the top-shelf Touareg R, which was launched in Europe last year, is now officially under consideration for Australia for a number of reasons, including the fast-tracking of low-sulphur fuel and the NSW government’s newly announced subsidies for EVs and PHEVs.

Volkswagen says it’s now pushing hard to get the plug-in hybrid Touareg R to Australia, where it would be comparable in both price and performance to the current V8 diesel-powered flagship, which is no longer in production and won’t return due to Euro 6 emissions regulations.

“Previously Volkswagen Group Australia wasn’t in line for PHEVs and we couldn’t access [them]. Things have changed a lot, just in recent times,” VGA communications boss Paul Pottinger told carsales.

“The fuel quality thing has been brought forward by three years and the NSW government announcement is exemplary – it’s a world-leading thing and if there’s going to be a national model, it should be that.”

However, Pottinger said the potential local availability of the Volkswagen Touareg R, demand for which is currently outstripping supply in Europe, is due mainly to the sell-out success of the $136,490 TDI V8.

“The V8 [Touareg] selling out the way it did proved we could sell a range-topping Touareg at that price point,” he said.

The top-shelf Touareg is powered by the same drivetrain as the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid – a 250kW/450Nm 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6 paired to a 100kW/400Nm electric motor and 14.1kWh lithium-ion battery.

The turbo V6 hybrid powertrain produces total outputs of 340kW/700Nm – more power but less torque than the V8 TDI’s 310kW/900Nm 4.0-litre twin-turbo diesel engine.

However, while the current Cayenne E-Hybrid is priced from $148,000 before on-road costs, the Volkswagen Touareg R would be priced in line with the discontinued V8 TDI at just over $136K.

Of course, if the Touareg R does come here, all that could change by the time it arrives.

Pottinger said that if approved for Australia, the timing of the Touareg R’s local release was still “subject to variables”, but it could be as soon as next year or as late as 2024, when low-sulphur fuel becomes mandated in Australia.

“At least we’re able to have the discussion now,” he said. 

In the meantime, those hoping to get their hands on a V8-powered Touareg will be “hard pressed”, according to Volkswagen’s product and service manager, Jeff Shafer, who told carsales that all Touareg TDI V8s would “probably all be accounted for”.

However, there are four other VW-R models to look forward to in 2022, starting with the most important one – the Volkswagen Tiguan R due in the first quarter of 2022.

The new 235kW Golf R hatch and Golf R wagon also expected to arrive here around the same time, with the T-Roc R to follow in the fourth quarter of next year – when the garden-variety versions are due for a facelift.

But while the Touareg R could become Volkswagen’s first electrified model in Australia, Pottinger said there was still no confirmed release timing for any members of the German brand’s family of all-electric ID models.

“I can’t say exactly how far away they are,” he told carsales. “The ID.4 [small SUV] would be the first model, but there’s a lot to be said about the Buzz [people-mover].

“ID.4 is the one with the most potential. [But] 2023 is the earliest we’d see them,” said Pottinger.