Touareg Final Edition Is A Fitting Farewell To VW's Longest-Running SUV
Volkswagen has announced that it's sending off its long-running Touareg SUV with a Final Edition to mark the end of production. Compared to its premium SUV rivals, the Touareg has always been an under-the-radar choice, but it's more interesting than you remember. It's also been a success, with VW having sold over 1.2 million examples since launching in 2002.
The Final Edition Touareg is a fittingly understated special edition, with the only notable changes being the "Final Edition" branding dotted across the car. The rear door window surrounds, gear lever, sill panel mouldings, and dash panel trim all get the badging, but the rest of the SUV remains unchanged.
The VW Touareg has managed a few notable achievements over the years. Racing versions have racked up multiple wins at the iconic Dakar rally, and the V10 TDI Touareg proved its towing supremacy back in 2006 by hauling a Boeing 747 down a runway. Even more impressively, the plane-hauling Touareg was mostly stock save for 4 tonnes (4.4 tons) of extra weight; the suspension, transmission, and engine were all unchanged from the standard production car.
The Touareg hasn't been offered in America since 2017
European buyers can order the Touareg Final Edition until March 2026, with production slated to end later that year. It starts from 75,025 euros (around $87,200), with all Touareg trims eligible for the Final Edition upgrade. It's a Europe-only deal, though, as American buyers haven't been able to get their hands on a new Touareg after VW stopped offering it in the U.S. in 2017.
The first-generation Touareg was produced between 2002 and 2009 and proved a big success for VW, with over 470,000 examples sold. In 2010, the second generation of the luxury SUV hit dealerships and proved similarly popular, with more than 480,000 units finding homes with buyers. The third — and currently final — generation of the Touareg arrived in 2018. With improved performance, updated tech, and the same focus on luxury as earlier models, the third-generation Touareg was arguably one of the coolest VWs that North America never got.
VW is tight-lipped about its plans for the Touareg nameplate, but rumors suggest that it could eventually return as an EV. For what it's worth, the press release announcing the Touareg Final Edition only specifies that 2026 will be the last year of production for the combustion-engined model; it doesn't say anything about VW retiring the nameplate altogether. However, the details of any potential future electric successor remain firmly under wraps for now.