What's the news?
An all-new Volkswagen Touareg arrives on sale in Ireland in July, but for anyone looking to nab a Volkswagen-badged 4x4 bargain, you'd better get your skates on. The last few N1-conforming current-shape Touaregs are still available, but you have only until July 30th to get them registered.
That N1 loophole in the tax system has seen everything from a Bentley Bentayga to a Ford Kuga given commercial vehicle status, but the loophole is being slowly closed. Vehicles that want to qualify for the dodge, which allows them to be taxed at 13.3 per cent Vehicle Registration Tax, must be registered before July 30th this year.
According to Volkswagen Ireland; "The clock is ticking for anyone who wants to get a hold of the last of the Touareg N1 Commercial models, which are five-seater commercial vehicles that offer significant savings for buyers compared to the passenger version of these models. The opportunity for buyers to avail of one of these N1 models ends on the particular date of July 30th, and not a day after, and the vehicles must be registered by or on this date. All of the examples that are left come with a technology pack with over €5,500 worth of kit for €1,499 and many of them come with the beautiful R-Line kit too. Compared to the full retail price of a passenger example of the same model, there is a total of €23,400 of savings to be made on many of these. They can only be sold to VAT-registered businesses and cost €62,925 including VAT."
As for the new Touareg, it will come only with diesel engines for now, and that means two flavours of 3.0-litre V6 TDI - 231hp and 286hp versions. It's possible that a base model, using Volkswagen's 190hp 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel will eventually follow, but there will definitely be a four-cylinder Touareg - a 370hp plugin hybrid model, using a 2.0-litre TSI petrol engine and electric power. That model is currently being developed for China, and Volkswagen says that it will most likely come to Europe too, but that "its exact launch date in Europe is still open." There will also be a sporty R model, using the 335hp turbo V6 petrol engine from the Audi SQ5.