The Volkswagen Touareg will receive its mid-life facelift during the European summer, ahead of an Australian launch during the first quarter of 2024.
According to the brand, headline changes for this nip-and-tuck include chassis and technology updates, more premium cabin appointments, as well as a European-first illuminated rear VW logo.
For Australia, the facelifted range will also see the introduction of the Touareg R eHybrid PHEV, which was previously earmarked for a late-2022 or early-2023 launch Down Under. The local arm has opted to wait for the upgraded model rather than importing a handful of pre-facelift models.
Other details – like any powertrain changes or shuffles to the Australian line-up – will be confirmed at the facelifted Touareg’s reveal in the coming months.
What’s New?
Volkswagen has detailed some preliminary upgrades ahead of the new Touareg’s reveal, including enhancements to the flagship SUV’s lighting and chassis technology, as well as new stuff in the cabin.
There’s new IQ.Light HD Matrix LED headlights up front available, which now incorporate 38,400 micro LEDs – or 19,200 micro LED units per headlight. A new LED light bar now extends between both headlights up front too.
According to VW, the new headlights offer “a sea of extremely bright points of light”, ensuring “significantly more brightness on the road without dazzling oncoming traffic”.
The new headlights also have a new “lane light” function, that projects an “interactive carpet” of light into the lane ahead to better show what’s in the path of the vehicle.
At the rear, there’s an illuminated VW logo – a first for Europe. Previously, this kind of tech was only permitted in markets like China and the US.
Underneath the skin, the German brand says it has “further developed” the Touareg’s chassis, including a new roof load sensor that is networked with the chassis electronics.
VW says the new Touareg can determine when something like a roof box is fitted, and passes this information on to assistance systems e.g. the ESC to optimise the on-board electronics and improve agility and stability according to the conditions.
Both the standard steel-sprung suspension, as well as the high-grade available two-chamber air suspension, have been retuned “to achieve an even larger bandwidth between maximum comfort and optimum performance”.
The interior has been revealed as part of this photo set, showing the cabin of the updated Touareg R flagship.
Headlining the changes is an updated infotainment setup, dubbed “Innovision Cockpit” incorporating a 15-inch central touchscreen (or 38.1cm) and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. It’s unclear whether this will become the standard setup for the facelifted model, as currently base versions run analogue instruments and a smaller touchscreen.
VW says the updated Innovision Cockpit now offers “lane-precise” satellite navigation functionality, HD map data, an enhanced voice control function, as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Customer feedback has also led to developments in cabin fit and finish; with softer armrests and new centre console panels with padded leatherette. The latter means the lining of the centre console is no longer hard plastic, and in the supplied images there’s contrast top stitching as well.
The updated VW Touareg will be revealed during Europe’s summer, indicating a June-August window for the German brand to debut its facelifted flagship.
Sales for the European and UK markets should commence before the end of 2023, while Australian deliveries will commence during the first quarter of 2024 (January-March).
Further details will be confirmed at the new Touareg’s reveal as well as in the lead-up to its local introduction, though we do know that the updated model will debut plug-in hybrid tech with the Touareg R as noted earlier.
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Keyword: 2024 Volkswagen Touareg: Updated flagship SUV to be more luxe than ever