vw has committed a lot of corporate resources to this vehicle........of course it has been released, not while the head of vw who approved it's developement is around, but on his replacement's watch......are vw customers gonna bite on a high 30's to low 50's sport ute? what makes it different than the W-8? where does an audi version fit in, if at all? are the compliclated electronics going to make living with it pleasurable?
just wondering about the group collective thoughts..........
regards
The Touareg is important for VW. It demonstrates that they are a serious player in the automotive industry. However....there are some drawbacks. The Touareg has many modules that will no doubt have problems, it has allot of technology that is new to VW and this is an area in which VW has little experience. So I think that there will be mixed issues with it.......but one thing is for sure.....it will make other SUVs cry off road!
The market will tell. Presumably if they don't, VW will have the wisdom to back out.
The Touareg is clearly an upscale vehicle. The W8 was a Passat, a squarely family-oriented midsize, with a fancy engine. The real test will be whether the Phaeton succeeds.
Well, they already have the Allroad, and the Pike's Peak concept looks interesting. I don't see Audi making a "trucklike" SUV, but instead continuing in the AWD "wagon-plus" direction.
-- Mike Smith
Well, except the Cayenne. ;-)
-- Mike Smith
I think so. *Nice* SUVs (and not talking top of the line ones) are easily $30K anyway. I think the Touareg will do just fine, especially since it's coming out on top of the competition anyway. With the success of the VW name in recent years with the Passat and Jetta in the US, adding a SUV should be a no-brainer.
The engine itself or do you mean a Passat W8 wagon specifically?
If the latter, yeah it's all wheel drive. However, it's a much stronger truck platform and has a towing capacity that the Passat W8 can't come close to touching.
Engine wise, it's not even a W8. I believe it's more similar to the Audi
4.2L V8.
Maybe, or it could be as much as a headache as any VW (or BMW or Mercedes) seems to be with all the gadgetry.
My bottom line opinion is that it'll do smashingly well here. The Phaeton on the other hand...not so sure. Maybe since the Touareg will be preceding the Phaeton here, that might help set the stage for the Phaeton. Otherwise I predict the Phaeton will flop.
Offroading in an SUV. That is a good one.
--TW Logged more "off road" miles in sedans than a hundred average SUVs ever will.
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