2018 Volkswagen Touareg teased - and looks to be heading in to Audi territory

2018 Volkswagen Touareg teased

The 2018 Volkswagen Touareg is teased ahead of a debut in China on 23 March, with new looks, more room, lots of technology and a push upmarket.

The Volkswagen Touareg has always been the ‘budget’ take on a large SUV from VW, overshadowed by its stablemates at Audi and Porsche.

But the new Touareg looks to be heading in to the Audi Q7’s turf as VW tease its arrival in China on 23 March, with a single tease sketch of the new SUV.

New styling looks to have taken its cue from the new VW Arteon and new Tiguan, and the new Touareg looks far sleeker than the current model, with a lower, sloping roofline.

In its quest to be more able and more appealing, Volkswagen has revealed it will come with air suspension and rear-wheel steering, as well as a new digital Innovision Cockpit, promising to be the biggest of any car in its class, and delivering a new type of infotanment environment.

That new interior will feature more high quality materials, and it looks like VW won’t just be heading in to Audi’s territory, but also taking aim at cars like the BMW X5 and even the Volvo XC90.

The bulk of engine options for the new Touareg will be the usual four-cylinder petrol and diesel lumps, but it looks like there will be a range-topping plug-in hybrid, as previewed in the VW T-Prime Concept GTE at last year’s Beijing Motor Show.

That preview of the Touareg came with a 2.0 litre four-cylinder petrol engine good for 248bhp, and an electric motor good for a further 134bhp, with a total powertrain output of 376bhp and 516lb/ft of torque.

A new Touareg is long overdue, and the 2018 Touareg does look promising. All will be revealed on 23 March, if not before.