On the day of the premiere of the new Renault Espace, which turned from an MPV into a crossover, Volkswagen decided to remind that its European range still there is a classic family single-cab Touran — this month it turned 20 years old from the moment the first generation entered the market, on this occasion the compact MPV received another dose of new things.
MPV is an endangered species in Europe, family monocabs have lost the market battle to crossovers and are gradually fading away. The Volkswagen brand has, in fact, only one model left in this genre — the Touran compact MPV, the larger Sharan was discontinued last year, a replacement was not prepared for it.
VW Touran first generation (center) and second generation (at the edges)
The first generation Touran on the PQ35 platform entered the market in March 2003, the next 2004 was the best year in the model's career — then more than 190,000 copies of the compact van were sold in Europe, in subsequent years sales were more modest. The “second” Touran on the MQB platform debuted in 2015, in 2016 its sales in Europe exceeded 110,000 units, the result of last year was less than 30,000, but Touran is not going to leave the European market yet (it left the Chinese market back in 2021 -m), despite the fact that he has an alternative in the form of a passenger version of the «heeled» VW Caddy.
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On the occasion of the Touran's anniversary, Volkswagen decided to shake up its standard equipment: it now includes adaptive cruise control, a multifunctional front camera, a lane change assistant and a PreCrash anti-collision system with rear obstacle detection. Travel Assist (in conjunction with DSG) and Dynamic Light Assist are available as an option.
1/8 2/8 3/8 4/8 5/8 6/8 7/8 8/8In the cabin, a new three-spoke steering wheel with touch sensors, a touch-sensitive microclimate control unit instead of the usual three “twists”, a new multimedia screen without physical keys (they used to be located to the left and right of the screen), updated instrument panel graphics. Replacing the physical keys with touch ones is a bad decision, from which Volkswagen decided to end up on future models, but they “arrived” in the Touran, let's say, by inertia. For a surcharge, Touran can be equipped with an electric tailgate with “kick” activation (a wave of the leg under the rear bumper). Salon, as before, can be 5- or 7-seater. Three child seats can be installed in the second row — a rare crossover can boast of such a wide cabin.
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turbo four» (150 hp) and 2.0 liter turbodiesel (122 or 150 hp), gearboxes — 6-speed «mechanics» or 7-speed «robot» DSG with two clutches, drive — only front . Prices for the facelifted Touran in Germany start at 37,845 euros.
Let's add that Volkswagen is still producing a full-size Viloran minivan in China.