It may have taken Volkswagen about two years to launch the new Touareg in India from the time of its premiere but its close relatives from the Porsche and Audi stables kept many customers from moving to the BMW X5 and Mercedes M/GL-Class. The new Touareg was shown at the Delhi Auto Expo last month.
Here’s the new Touareg spotted in Delhi by reader Lakshay Mohan Gupta earlier this week.
The new Touareg is nothing new to IAB readers as right from April last year we’ve been talking about it. For some reason Volkswagen chose not to launch it at the Auto Expo. The price of the new model with the V6 diesel engine is expected to start just above 42 lakh rupees.
Our friends at many Volkswagen dealerships tell us that they’ve suggested the company to price the five-seat Touareg attractively as alternatives from other German SUVs have brand power that can’t be matched.
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VW India has taken the wraps of their line up for the Auto Expo. VW, as promised earlier, showcased their super efficient XL1 concept which does 100 km/l. Currently, at its third stage of development, XL1 is powered by a compact 800 cc TDI two-cylinder common rail diesel engine developing 48 PS. It’s linked to an electric motor producing 27 PS, resulting in a total of 75 PS – a modest output yet more than enough when the low kerb weight (795 kg) of the vehicle is taken into account.
Volkswagen has also showcased the third generation Beetle hatchback at the Auto Expo. The slightly larger Beetle, based on the new Jetta platform, will be powered by a 2.0-liter TDI making close to 130PS available in both Manual and Automatic transmission. The new Touareg rocked the show in its new avatar. Keen autobuffs must have noticed a small cameo role played by the brand in the movie RA-One. A 3-litre diesel engine that puts out 243 PS is on offer.
Our good friends over at Anything-On-Wheels have published spy shots of two forthcoming Volkswagen products from the streets of Pune. The first image is of the Volkswagen Polo upgrade with steering-mounted audio controls. Could we see Volkswagen upgrade equipment on all variants?
Will Volkswagen provide a four-cylinder diesel engine displacing under 1,500cc along with these upgrades? A four cylinder engine promises to deliver superior performance compared to a naturally imbalanced three-cylinder. They can reserve the 1.2 TDI for the base model and use it across the Up range next year.
The second vehicle spotted is the new Touareg. The Volkswagen Touareg isn’t exactly a saucy SUV as the role of a family SUV is played by other vehicles in the VW family like the Audi Q7 and the Porsche Cayenne. The brand strength of Volkswagen is only a fraction of a Porsche or an Audi.
We hear that BlueMotion technology will make it to the upgraded Touareg, but a hybrid variant, due to the high price of the battery pack, may not be sold in India.
Will Volkswagen re-launch both the improved models during the festival season?
Regular reader of Indian Autos Blog Harsha, had visited the Hyderbad International Auto Show, an annual event organized by Vista entertainments in association with HICC, Hyderabad today morning. He brought back some images and here, he explains the appealing portions of the show.
The show was held at the HICC (Hyderabad international convention centre). A total of twenty two bike and car manufacturers displayed their range and a total of over 100 cars and bikes were brought under one roof.
From electric bikes to Hayabusas, and Altos to Audis, the show thrilled auto enthusiasts here in Hyderabad.
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It may have taken Volkswagen about two years to launch the new Touareg in India from the time of its premiere but its close relatives from the Porsche and Audi stables kept many customers from moving to the BMW X5 and Mercedes M/GL-Class. The new Touareg was shown at the Delhi Auto Expo last month.
