• The Touran was launched in March 2003
• Around 2.3 million in sales of Volkswagen Touran over 15 years

15 years ago – in March 2003 – Volkswagen launched the first Touran on the market. Since then, over three model generations, the MPV has developed into a best-selling vehicle and a market leader in its segment in Europe. Over the past 15 years, around 2.3 million new car buyers have chosen the MPV, which is offered as a five- or seven-seater. Today's Touran can impress with intelligent flexibility, a family-friendly character and innovative features, especially in driver assistance and infotainment.

After its launch in 2003, the MPV was given a comprehensive facelift in November 2006 including the first semi-automatic assistance system (Park Assist). In 2010, Volkswagen adapted the Touran – whose sales had already reached 1.13 million units – to the brand's new design DNA and updated its technologies.

After delivering a total of 1.9 million units, Volkswagen developed a completely new generation of the Touran and introduced it in a world premiere in February 2015. This was the first time that the Touran was based on the new 'modular transverse matrix' (MQB), and it was now 130 mm longer and up to 62 kilograms lighter. An entire armada of progressive assistance systems made their way into the compact Volkswagen MPV, as did a new level of connectivity. These included the optional 'Car-Net Cam Connect', which parents could use to keep an eye on their children via camera and see on the infotainment system monitor whether everything was all right in the rear seating area. The Touran offers another sensible option: electronic voice amplification. It amplifies passengers' voices via a microphone, and their speech is output over the vehicle's loudspeakers. This can assure good listening comprehension even across three rows of seats.

The current generation also stands out with one of the largest luggage compartments in its class (up to 834 litres with five people on-board), an ISOFIX child seat system for the rear seats and a 3-zone automatic air conditioner (Climatronic; standard in Highline). So, the Touran is also an ideal choice today as one of the best thought-out family cars of its time.

Article source: www.volkswagen-media-services.com

Volkswagen is making a statement by staging a world premiere of a new model for the first time in China – its largest market. The new Touareg marks a milestone in the brand’s largest model and technology campaign, and it shows what engineers and designers at Volkswagen can do. The new flagship takes a top position in the premium class SUV segment with its expressive design, its innovative operating, convenience and safety systems, as well as in the high quality of its materials and craftsmanship.

Equipped with the connectivity of a new era and a pioneering fusion of assistance, comfort, lighting and infotainment systems, the Touareg points the way to the future. At the same time, the exclusive SUV charges up its market segment with pure dynamism. The largest markets for what is now the third generation of the Touareg are China, Europe and Russia. Worldwide sales of the previous two generations amount to nearly one million units. The Touareg – as comfortable as it is dynamic – has, as the most technically advanced Volkswagen of its era, the potential to enthuse technology and design savvy drivers of premium class models of all sorts, reaching new target groups as well..

Premiere of the Innovision Cockpit. Volkswagen is presenting the fully digitalised Innovision Cockpit for the first time in the new Touareg. Here the digital instruments (Digital Cockpit with 12-inch display) and the top Discover Premium infotainment system (with 15-inch display) merge to form a digital operating, information, communication and entertainment unit that hardly needs any conventional buttons or switches. Always-on, offering intuitive control and maximum personalisation – with the Innovision Cockpit, the Touareg provides the blueprint for tomorrow's digital interior today.

A focus on people. Drivers use the Innovision Cockpit to adapt the assistance, handling and comfort systems specifically to their personal tastes; the car becomes 'their' Touareg. This opens up a world in which the driver and on-board guests no longer have to adapt to the car; rather the car adapts to them. Like a new smartphone, the Volkswagen is set up and tuned to personal needs. This is made possible by a new high level of connected systems and programmes – controlled via digital interfaces and the multifunction steering wheel.

Fusion of new assistance, handling and comfort systems. The Touareg is launching with the largest range of assistance, handling and comfort systems ever to be integrated into a Volkswagen. They include technologies such as the Night Vision assistance system (detects people and animals in darkness via a thermal imaging camera), Roadwork Lane Assist (semi-automated steering and lane keeping, accelerating and braking up to 60 km/h), Front Cross Traffic Assist (reacts to cross traffic in front of the Touareg), active all-wheel steering (makes the Touareg handle like a compact car), new roll stabilisation with electromechanically controlled anti-roll bars, 'IQ.Light – LED matrix headlights' (interactive, camera-based dipped and main beam headlight control) and a 'Windshield Head-up Display' projected directly onto the windscreen.

The driver experiences these systems as a single unit in the new Touareg. They are simply there – interconnected via a new central control unit – working imperceptibly in the background and making travel safer, more convenient and more intuitive than ever.

New dimensions and reduced weight. Compared to its predecessor, the third generation Touareg is moderately wider and longer. The new dimensions have positive effects on both the vehicle's proportions and its amount of interior space. The added exterior length leads, for example, to a significant increase in luggage capacity, from 697 to 810 litres (with rear bench seat up). Cargo there is hidden from onlookers by an optional electrically extending and retracting luggage compartment cover. Despite its increased length and width, the car body is 106 kg lighter because of its mixed material construction of aluminium (48 per cent) and high-tech steels (52 per cent).

Launch with V6 engines. In Europe, Volkswagen will initially offer two V6 diesel engines for the new 2018 Touareg with outputs of 170 kW / 231 PS and 210 kW / 286 PS. In a number of markets, this will also be followed by a V6 petrol engine (250 kW / 340 PS) and a V8 turbodiesel (310 kW / 421 PS). A new plug-in hybrid drive (270 kW / 367 PS of system power) is being prepared for China; its exact launch date in Europe is still open.

Volkswagen SUV campaign. The 2018 Touareg is an important milestone in the largest product and technology campaign in the history of the Volkswagen brand. The brand's range of SUVs is also being expanded comprehensively. It currently consists of the new T-Roc, the Tiguan, the new Tiguan Allspace (Europe) and Tiguan L (China), the new Atlas (USA) and the Teramont (China), plus the now completely redesigned Touareg as Volkswagen's top SUV model. Volkswagen will also be further extending the lower end of its SUV range with the compact T-Cross. The first all-electric SUV from Volkswagen is also a sure thing: the I.D. CROZZ. It will arrive on the market in 2020.

About the Volkswagen brand: “We make the future real”

The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand is present in more than 150 markets throughout the world and produces vehicles at over 50 locations in 14 countries. In 2017, Volkswagen produced 6.23 million vehicles including bestselling models such as the Golf, Tiguan, Jetta or Passat. Currently, 198,000 people work for Volkswagen across the globe. The brand also has 7,700 dealerships with 74,000 employees.

Volkswagen is forging ahead consistently with the further development of automobile production. E-mobility, Smart mobility and the digital transformation of the brand are the key strategic topics for the future.

Article source: www.volkswagen.co.uk

• The parking assistant celebrates its premiere in 2006, and today it is available in numerous Volkswagen brand models
• Nearly perfect parking with the help of Park Assist 3.0

The everyday search for parking places takes a toll on time and nerves. When an available parking place is sighted, Volkswagen has been assisting drivers for around 20 years by implementing a parking process that incurs the least possible stress. That is because available assistance systems have been continuously improved over the years. The acoustic warning followed visual assistance. Twelve years ago, Volkswagen was the world's first carmaker to offer a parking assistant with automatic steering. In the latest generation, a Volkswagen can be made to steer into the smallest of parking spaces, either longitudinal or perpendicular, and it automatically brakes in an emergency situation. However, today’s Park Assist is only one of many different systems which can be found in Volkswagen models for assisting drivers in parking.

• World's largest vintage car fair takes place on 21-25 March
• Volkswagen showcases its exclusive Karmann prototypes
• World premiere: Volkswagen Type 3 convertible from 1961 is presented for the first time after complete restoration

Lovers of historic Volkswagen models should set aside some time from 21-25 March 2018. At Techno Classica in Essen, the world's largest vintage car fair, Volkswagen will present fascinating exhibits spanning three decades, including two exclusive convertible prototypes from the Karmann collection in Osnabrück.