New Volkswagen Tayron SUV guns for supremacy in family-car feud

The gloves have been taken off in Volkswagen’s push for market share with a new, family-focused SUV. The Volkswagen Tayron shares lots of elements with the latest Tiguan, but offers a larger body, seating for 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. 

At 4,770mm long, the new Tayron does a more convincing job of being a large seven-seat SUV than the previous Tiguan Allspace. The new car 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 top-spec Touraeg, which operates more as a halo model for the brand at the high end of the SUV market. 

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 numbers are up on 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.

The dashboard is unique to the Tayron, and comes with a curved wing feature under the black-panel dash front familiar from other VW models. This is joined by an array of interfaces including a 15-inch touchscreen, 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. 

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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. 

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. Final efficiency figures are yet to be confirmed, but in the smaller Tiguan the system allows up to 62 miles of range from a single charge.

Both 2.0-litre petrol and the high-powered diesel are offered with 4Motion all-wheel drive, but otherwise all Tayron models remain 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. 

Final UK specifications have yet to be confirmed, but the new Tayron will be joining the range in March 2025 with prices set to be above both the standard Tiguan and Kodiaq, pointing at a starting price in the high £30,000s.

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