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Vehicle Tests > Strategic re-alignment
Strategic re-alignment
Issue: December 2006
Words by Mathieu Raudonikis
Two new engines and better value for money pricing are designed to attract more buyers to Volkswagen Touareg.
It seems Overlander 4WD jumped the gun with our Hotline piece on the 2007 Touareg in the November issue. We knew that VW was doing a Touareg launch in October and we assumed it would be the second-generation vehicle recently shown in Paris. So imagine our surprise when we arrived to drive the car in Canberra and the vehicles looked the same as ever.
There is a new Touareg on the way with fresh front end styling and it will be on sale in Australia around the middle of 2007, but due to the flagging sales of the model here, VW Australia found it necessary to give the vehicle a major realignment in the local market.
The big changes are the inclusion of V6TDI diesel and V6FSI petrol engines, the dropping of the V8 petrol engine and adjustment of pricing. With three of the four models now diesel powered VW Australia expects up to 75 percent of Touareg sales to be diesel equipped. All three diesel powered Touaregs are now fitted with a diesel particulate filter in order to meet the latest emissions regulations.
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The Touareg range starts with the five cylinder R5TDI, which at $64,990 is $5000 cheaper than previously yet adds more standard equipment such as the exterior chrome pack, rain sensing wipers, auto on lights, CD changer and auto dimming rear view mirror.
At the other end of the range the awesome V10TDI Touareg has dropped $15,000 in price but loses standard equipment such as sat-nav, power sunroof and the wood/leather steering wheel. These items are now optional across the range for $4490, $2190 and $590 respectively. The price drop on the V10 was to close the gap to the mid-spec models now that there is no V8 petrol engine model. The two V6-engined Touaregs are both priced at $74,990 and each has a new engine.
The pick of the pair is the V6TDI, which is the same engine we've sampled in the Audi Q7. It's a 3.0 litre, intercooled, turbocharged, piezo injected, common-rail turbodiesel that puts out 165kW at 4000rpm and 500Nm from 1500 to 1800rpm. Like other new-breed diesels this engine is quiet, smooth and very torquey, delivering V8 petrol-like performance with the economy of a modern diesel. Audi's claimed ADR fuel consumption figures are 10.9L/100km and on test we averaged an indicated 11.1L/100km.
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Words by Mathieu Raudonikis
Two new engines and better value for money pricing are designed to attract more buyers to Volkswagen Touareg.
It seems Overlander 4WD jumped the gun with our Hotline piece on the 2007 Touareg in the November issue. We knew that VW was doing a Touareg launch in October and we assumed it would be the second-generation vehicle recently shown in Paris. So imagine our surprise when we arrived to drive the car in Canberra and the vehicles looked the same as ever.
There is a new Touareg on the way with fresh front end styling and it will be on sale in Australia around the middle of 2007, but due to the flagging sales of the model here, VW Australia found it necessary to give the vehicle a major realignment in the local market.
The big changes are the inclusion of V6TDI diesel and V6FSI petrol engines, the dropping of the V8 petrol engine and adjustment of pricing. With three of the four models now diesel powered VW Australia expects up to 75 percent of Touareg sales to be diesel equipped. All three diesel powered Touaregs are now fitted with a diesel particulate filter in order to meet the latest emissions regulations.
read on below advertisement
The Touareg range starts with the five cylinder R5TDI, which at $64,990 is $5000 cheaper than previously yet adds more standard equipment such as the exterior chrome pack, rain sensing wipers, auto on lights, CD changer and auto dimming rear view mirror.
At the other end of the range the awesome V10TDI Touareg has dropped $15,000 in price but loses standard equipment such as sat-nav, power sunroof and the wood/leather steering wheel. These items are now optional across the range for $4490, $2190 and $590 respectively. The price drop on the V10 was to close the gap to the mid-spec models now that there is no V8 petrol engine model. The two V6-engined Touaregs are both priced at $74,990 and each has a new engine.
The pick of the pair is the V6TDI, which is the same engine we've sampled in the Audi Q7. It's a 3.0 litre, intercooled, turbocharged, piezo injected, common-rail turbodiesel that puts out 165kW at 4000rpm and 500Nm from 1500 to 1800rpm. Like other new-breed diesels this engine is quiet, smooth and very torquey, delivering V8 petrol-like performance with the economy of a modern diesel. Audi's claimed ADR fuel consumption figures are 10.9L/100km and on test we averaged an indicated 11.1L/100km.
next page »
