[schubie]

From what I've learned --- the next generation Touareg, at least platform, chassis and technology --- will not be a big departure from what's on the road right now.

That says a lot of how incredible this vehicle is.... right now.

When the next gen. version comes out, though, who's to say we won't be stuck with the softroader (e.g. 3-row) version alone, a la the Tiguan?

Personally, I rather grab the last of the T2's with a V6 TDI, now that most of the platform bugs have probably been ironed out.