I know Arkarch just heard the same thing from the dealer here in Vegas when he test drove the V6 TDI the other night.

I won't get into my thoughts on the logic behind their decision, as it'll be too long to type...

Matt

 

What big seller? Even the Routan outsold the Touareg by a wide margin in March.

 

Economy is crap, world over.........

 

Could be but in March 2009, Audi sold 453 Q7s in the USA. Porsche sold 924 Cayennes in the USA. Touareg sales in the USA just plain suck.

 

Can you split the sales by engine? Porsche seems to sell alot more V8 units. It would be interesting to see the V6 - V8 split. We see more V8's here in the mid-west.

 

VW dropped the V8 in Canada in '09...offering 3 engines was just too much for such a low volume seller. I'm not surprised to see the V8 drop in the US either, VWoAs new strategy seems to be a move somewhat downmarket, so the V6 TDI fits into a more utilitarian image.

 

that's a quick way to lose credibility. how can they even pretend to compete with MB or Land Rover without offering either a V8 or V10 TDI......

 

Looks to me like they're saying "buy a Q7 or Cayenne".

 

From a business standpoint... dropping the V8 makes sense. You have the V6TDI that turns out more torque than the V8 ---- it's a smaller, more efficient engine that gives the driver just about everything and more that they would have gotten out of the V8... for less money.

 

Just drove the V6 TDI...its nice but acceleration is not on par with the V8, at least not the FSI version that I have. I found it comparable to the 3.6 V6 in terms of acceleration, which is to say good...but nowhere near V8 performance. Makes sense since it might have a 75 lb-ft torque advantage (400 vs 325 approx) but its down 130HP on the V8 (350 vs 220).

 

I guess that just tells you they're probably going to drop the model altogether or change it's target substantially in the next generation (i.e., dropping off-road/towing capabilities)... the hybrid already lost the 4Xmotion in favor of a weak torsen dif

 

I guess that just tells you they're probably going to drop the model altogether or change it's target substantially in the next generation (i.e., dropping off-road/towing capabilities)...

Honestly, I think you are spot-on with this logic. The way I see it, the only reason they're even bothering to continue sell the current Touareg in the US is because it has already passed all the crash testing/emissions hurdles, and the production has already been planned on the schedule. To go through that riggamaroll with the redesigned version will add expense, and they may not see it as viable when they sell so few units at a pretty steep discount, at least compared to how much they seem to sell them for elsewhere in the world. Assuming that the redesign does make it here, I'll bet we only get the neutered version that's intended for on-road use, like what they did with the Tiguan. It is sad to say, but that seems to me to be what they're heading toward.

And, even if the V6TDI is about 3-4 years later than it really should have been, it may very well be the gamechanger that VW needs to turn sales of this vehicle around. VW should have had the TDI here years ago when its impact of great mileage would have been an incerdible selling tool, as well as being ahead of the competitions' diesels.

This is all speculation on my part though. I sure hope I'm wrong, and we continue to get Touaregs with low-range transfer cases long into the future. But, the way things look right now, I'm not sure that will be the case.

Matt

 

In my non-professional opinion

I always thought they intended on dropping the Touareg line all together. I figured, they wanted to compete on the small SUV market with the Tiguan.

But what do I know? It was just a fleeting thought when I saw the Tiny Tiguan.

VW does kill models only to revive them later...

Bug, Rabbit, Bus...

 

I think we will get V6 + hybrid = V8 power

 

without 4Xmotion or locking diffs

 

Abt has a chip that bumps it to 270HP, 300HP is available but you need to change the turbo...oddly enough they don't show a torque increase. Engine Technology : ABT engine tuning : Products

Oettinger shows an increase to 260HP, again though no torque increase...they show a 0-100 of 8.8sec and a top speed of 132MPH in modified form, well back from the V8
Oettinger: Product

 

Abt has a chip that bumps it to 270HP, 300HP is available but you need to change the turbo...oddly enough they don't show a torque increase. Engine Technology : ABT engine tuning : Products

Oettinger shows an increase to 260HP, again though no torque increase...they show a 0-100 of 8.8sec and a top speed of 132MPH in modified form, well back from the V8
Oettinger: Product

0-100 kph. that's as slow as the gasser

 

God I hope they keep making Tregs. Once I've used this one up, I won't know what to do if they are gone...

 

I'am not sure I understand Vw's marketing,they made the Passat to compete with Camry and Accord(so I had to buy a CC to get 4motion,which is an awesome car),now they want to take the V8 Touareg away,and probably discountinue it,which leaves the Tiguen,to take on all the others.

 

Just my view of VW:

Tiguan is there to compete with the Honda CRV, Toyota RAV 4 and Acura RDX and maybe as a lower cost alternative to the X3 and GLK...The Touareg is a misfit, especially after the US specific Passat and Jetta show up in the next year or two (bigger, cheaper, less refined)....a cheap, big, less refined Treg will also make sense to compete against the pilot

The Treg made sense under Piechs leadership..he was the guy responsible for the Phaeton, Touareg, Passat W8...

DenverBill I agree completely with your view...

 

Take a look at the official VW site and the logic behind the end of the V-8
(and the Touareg itself in short order) becomes glaringly apparent. VW's target market is the teen and twenty thou price point. Starting prices from $17,515 to $29,690, plus a convertible at $31,615 (omitting the Touaregs from the mix). As I tell people who ask what my '04 Touareg is, it is really a mis-badged Audi (or Porsche). There is no room in the VW lineup for a +$40k sport ute, particularly now that Porsche and Audi are part of the family.

I hate to see the Touareg go, but at least we will have rebadged and repackaged alternatives for a while.

 

Yeah sad but true,I think the 4motion CC is next to go,it's too expensive when you can get the same body style for 8,000 less with the turbo.I never should have let the wifie talk me out the V8

 

Motor Trend says BMW is dropping the V8 and V10 motors also. V.W. needs a "Halo" car. Bring back the V10 or V12.

 

Maybe it just has to do the times, and how the mind set is changing, albiet slowly, on the issues of the planet and the damage we have created. I mean, lets face it. SUV's (the full size ones), and large pick ups have gotten themselves a very bad rap. Especially within the context, of a lone man, during rush hour traffic, cell phone on one ear, tailgating a "lesser car", in his Escalade. Yes, some people have ruined it for others, and with that, is it safe to say that in the near future, the mere mention of the word V10 or even V8, will simply have become "passe?"

 

Maybe it just has to do the times, and how the mind set is changing, albiet slowly, on the issues of the planet and the damage we have created.

That was my thinking... Hasn't the V10 been off the California market for a long time because of emission regulations? (Sorry for the dumb question...)

The problem is that a smaller engine in the Treg just won't work. My R5 is really as low as you can go with a vehicle weighing over 2,000kg. Altough, saying that, the carbon emissions of the V6 TDi is better than my R5's.

I agree to an extent with the fact that the Treg is too expensive for a car with a VW badge on it. We all know that's why the Phaeton failed as well. It's just a pity that neither the Q7 nor the Cayenne really deliver what the Treg does, ie. low range AND diesel power. The Tiguan and Q5 are both nice cars, but still, no low range.

 

So, what will happen to parts availability for the years moving forward? Will we be able to get parts to maintain the 'regs? If so, for how long? I can't imagine there is enough need for a third party to take over the production of such parts.

 

My buddy can still buy parts for his 30 year old VW Thing at the dealer...your Touareg will likely be in a junkyard long before VWs parts supply ever dries up. They have made almost 400,000 Touaregs...so its not like its rare or anything.

 

I contacted a friend of mine in upper management in VW Wolfsburg, he is high enough on the food chain there that he get's 2 cars every 3 months to drive and review and return after 3 months and get 2 more (one is his and the other is his wife's).

His exact words were when I asked about the Touareg were:

We are currently developing the new Touareg. It will be released in 2011. I'm not so sure about the future of Q7 because it is not selling very well.

 

I contacted a friend of mine in upper management in VW Wolfsburg, he is high enough on the food chain there that he get's 2 cars every 3 months to drive and review and return after 3 months and get 2 more (one is his and the other is his wife's).

His exact words were when I asked about the Touareg were:

We are currently developing the new Touareg. It will be released in 2011. I'm not so sure about the future of Q7 because it is not selling very well.

Guess he didn't see that the Q7 outsold the Touareg in the USA in March 2009 by nearly 2 to 1.

 

Just because they "are currently developing the new Touareg" does not mean that they will find it economically feasible to bring it to North America. I'm with NickM and DenverBill on this, and I truly hope we're all wrong. But, as Nick pointed out about our volume levels, plus other R.O.W. customers commenting on our prices being much cheaper than theirs, to me it seems that there's no real money in N.A. for the Touareg, at least in this economic climate.

Matt

 

Really! They can't even justify bringing the new Scirocco to North America.

 

My last conversation with VW about the future of the Touareg in the U.S. went like this.... the redesign is happening and there are no plans to pull it from the U.S.

 

This makes the most sense. VW will have an SUV in it's lineup here. No way it won't. VW is likely to reduce the weight of the next Touareg and that probably means the weight loss will come from removing or modifying the off-road capabilities.

I sure hope the redesigned Treg has a V8. It's simply awesome. My Treg is the best VW I've owned.

 

Why not leave the hot V8's to Porsche for on road use, give us the V10 back for off road and H.D. use? One of these fills a need for a tow vehicle.

 

I agree with this completely...

VW needs a premium engine in the Touareg, and as neat as the V6 diesel is, its an economy engine...

 

There are a pile of new gas mileage and quite possibly pollution standards for vehicles coming in the no-so-distant future --- and this might play a roll in the decision.

 

Audi 4.2 liter TDI V-8: 326 hp, 550 lb ft torque Now you have piqued my interest