New Volkswagen Tayron will kick off at £39,850 when it goes on sale on 9 January

The Volkswagen Tayron has been available in other markets now for some time, but the company is finally bringing it to the UK to sit between the latest Tiguan and recently facelifted Touareg in its line-up. Volkswagen has now revealed its new family-focused SUV will start from £39,850, topping out at just over £50,000 for sporty R-Line versions - making it roughly £5,000 more expensive than equivalent Tiguans. 

Clearly sharing lots of elements with the latest Tiguan - not least a heavily revised MQB Evo platform – the Tayron has a larger body, seating for up to seven, and even more high-end tech. It’s even larger than the closely related Skoda Kodiaq, which will no doubt create something of a family feud in a segment that Skoda’s used to having to itself. 

Volkswagen will open the order books for the Tayron on 9 January offering the 1.5 eTSI 150 seven-seater or the 1.5 TSI eHybrid plug-in hybrid five-seater with either 201bhp or 268bhp. A diesel option in the shape of the 2.0-litre TSI seven-seater will go on sale from 20 February alongside 201bhp and 262bhp 2.0-litre pure-petrol offerings - all with a DSG automatic gearbox. 

There will be five trim levels available in the UK with the entry-level Life followed by the plug-in hybrid-only Match, then the Elegance, R-Line and R-Line Edition - the last of which is also only offered as a plug-in hybrid.

At 4,770mm long, the new Tayron is a larger car than the previous Tiguan Allspace. The new model has a completely unique body and design, creating more distinction between it and the smaller Tiguan. The overall look is familiar, though, with sharp LED lighting front and rear, plus the option of R-Line or a more sophisticated Elegance body option, both of which feature wheel sizes of up to 20 inches. It doesn’t, however, get too close in size to the range-topping Touraeg, which operates more as a halo model for the brand. 

Inside, there’s seating for up to seven people, plus a large and spacious luggage area. This is as large as 885 litres in the five-seat model, or 850 litres for the seven-seater with the rearmost bench folded away. In full seven-seat mode, the boot space is still rated at 345 litres. All of these figures improve on those of the Skoda Kodiaq, which has between 725 and 640 litres of space, or 340 with all three rows up. 

The VW’s second row can slide in a 60:40 split, and features a one-touch sliding function for access to the two seats in the third row. It also has adjustable backrests and Isofix child points on the outer two seats.

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The dashboard is unique to the Tayron, and comes with a curved wing feature under the black-panel front that’s familiar from other VW models. This is joined by an array of interfaces including a 15-inch touchscreen, a digital driver’s display and a solitary knob on the centre console that can be customised to control everything from the volume, to the interior lighting and drive mode. 

Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are standard fit, and depending on UK specifications, the native system will come with ChatGPT integration built into the voice command functions. Higher-spec models also get a sliding panoramic sunroof, an uprated Harman Kardon sound system, plus leather-upholstered electrically adjustable seats with massage and ventilation functions.

Powering the Tayron is a collection of updated powertrains you’ll recognise from the Tiguan, not to mention the Kodiaq and new Cupra Terramar. They include a 148bhp 1.5-litre mild-hybrid petrol option at the lower end, plus two pure-petrol 2.0-litre models with 204bhp and 262bhp. There’s also a pair of 2.0-litre diesel options, with 148bhp or 190bhp, all of which are connected to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. 

However, the biggest sellers in the UK are expected to be the two plug-in hybrid options that have either 200bhp or 268bhp. In both cases, the system pairs a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and a six-speed dual-clutch transmission with a hybrid module made up from an electric motor and 19.7kWh battery pack. The PHEV can provide up to 75 miles of electric-only running and receive a maximum 40kW recharge rate - allowing for a 10 to 80 per cent top up in 26 minutes.

Both 2.0-litre petrol and the high-powered diesel are offered with 4Motion all-wheel drive, but otherwise all Tayron models are front-wheel drive. Being based on the heavily updated MQB Evo platform, it also supports optional dual-valve adaptive dampers, plus the next generation of VW’s progressive steering and XDS virtual limited-slip differential tech. 

Click here for our list of the best hybrid SUVs...