The rumors were true – the Tuareg’s days were numbered. Volkswagen has confirmed that its flagship sport utility vehicle (SUV) will be retired next year. After selling 1.2 million units since its debut in 2002, the “poor man’s” Audi Q7 will go out in late March 2026, when order books officially close. Before you leave, Luxobarge will be presented in the final version.
The truth is that there is nothing particularly exciting in the Tuareg swan song. The Final Edition is available on all trim levels, and can be identified by the laser-etched lettering at the base of the C-pillars. The same motif appears inside, where the words “Final Edition” are embossed into the leather covering the shift lever.
The ambient lighting has also been modified to display the phrase on the passenger side of the dashboard, while illuminated side sill panels carry the same message. Exciting stuff, I know. It seems Volkswagen He wasn’t too interested in giving the Touareg the proper send-off it deserved, considering its importance in Wolfsburg’s history.
In its home market, VW charges €75,025 before options for the final Touareg. Once he’s gone, he’s gone forever. Or is it? A line in the press release suggests that the nameplate may one day return. The company specifically refers to it as the end of the “Touareg combustion engine model.”
Photo by: Volkswagen
Since there’s no fully electric Touareg yet, VW didn’t need to make that clear. Perhaps this is a hint that the name will stick around as an EV. With the coming Identification card. PoloVolkswagen has already said that future electric models will combine the “ID” prefix with the traditional names, hence the ID. The Tuareg may be on the horizon.
The original Touareg was launched in the same year that Ferdinand Piech stepped down after nearly a decade of running VW with an iron fist. Along with the Phaeton, it was part of an ambitious push to move up the upscale brand without trampling on Audi’s turf while throwing a diesel V-10 and gas W-12 into the mix. While the Phaeton was withdrawn after one generation (Khalifa has been cancelled), the Touareg has lasted through three generations, the last of which was introduced in 2018.
All the Touareg platform mates are around. Porsche has confirmed that the gas-powered Cayenne will last until the 2030s. Audi is preparing an all-new Q7, and Bentley certainly won’t stop producing the Bentayga, its money-printing machine. Likewise, Lamborghini will retain Urus Survives, with a second generation featuring a plug-in hybrid powertrain arriving in 2029.
