The rumours were true: production of the current Volkswagen Touareg will end soon, with a newly revealed Final Edition which has been confirmed for Australia, before order books close for good in March 2026.
But while Volkswagen has confirmed the last combustion-powered version of its flagship SUV will be retired within months, reports suggest the nameplate may return on a new electric vehicle (EV) later this decade.
Commemorating the model’s 23 years in showrooms and 1.2 million global sales across 39 countries since 2002, the Touareg Final Edition – based on the existing third-generation model released in 2018 and then facelifted in 2023 – brings handsome cosmetic upgrades inside and out.
“We can confirm the Touareg Final Edition for Australia and expect the Touareg to remain in local showrooms well into 2026,” a Volkswagen Australia spokesperson told CarExpert.
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In Europe, the Final Edition treatment is available across all four model grades – Touareg, Elegance, R-Line and R – and all other variants have disappeared from the German automaker’s public websites.
Australian pricing and details for the farewell-edition Touareg are yet to be announced, and Volkswagen has not revealed how many examples will be available here, nor how it fill the void at the top of its local range once stocks are exhausted.
Touareg sales have been consistent in Australia so far this year, with 633 registrations compared to 623 in the same period in 2024, which more than many rivals including the Volvo XC90 (571 sales), but well behind the Land Rover Defender (3033) and BMW X5 (2764), the country’s most popular premium ($80,000-plus) large SUVs.
Speaking at the recent launch of the new Tayron – a longer version of the Tiguan mid-size SUV offering seven seats – Volkswagen Australia’s head of product, Arjun Nidigallu, told CarExpert the flagship SUV occupies a unique space.
“[Touareg] replaces your old-school estate [wagon] tourer in the new SUV-dominated world, so a lot of customers who would go into a tourer class are certainly in the Touareg now,” Mr Nidigallu said.
“The Touareg is also a different capability car; you’re talking three-tonne-plus towing capacity, six-cylinder diesel [engine], and it’s a huge statement car,” he added.
“People buy it because it’s flagship. People know it’s [based on] the same platform as the [Audi] Q7, [Bentley] Bentayga and the [Lamborghini] Urus.”
But the Touareg name may not be dead forever, with a report from Automobilwoche suggesting Volkswagen plans to reintroduce the badge on a battery-electric model in 2029.
The unconfirmed reports suggest the first Touareg EV will also be the first model from the Volkswagen Group – which also includes Porsche, Cupra, and Skoda – to be based on the company’s new dedicated-electric Scalable Systems Platform (SSP).
The Touareg remains Volkswagen’s largest model and currently the brand’s only plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) in local showrooms, but it is set to be joined by PHEV versions of the Tiguan and Tayron in 2026.
The V6 turbo-diesel that powers other Touareg variants exceeds the CO2 limits decreed by the Australian Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) in 2026, meaning it will attract financial penalties which could be countered by higher showroom prices.
Touareg prices currently range between $89,490 and $133,490 before on-road costs in Australian, making them significantly lower than their key competitors, although Volkswagen’s biggest SUV remains only a five-seater.
