With a starting price of $51,000, Volkswagen seems to think the 2014 Touareg is not a mainstream SUV.
Everything that's good, bad, wonderful and sad about Volkswagen is right there in the 2014 Volkswagen Touareg sport-utility vehicle.
THE GOOD: It starts with the 3.0-litre turbodiesel, all 405 lb-ft of stump-pulling torque of it. Strong, powerful, quiet and as clean as a diesel gets, it features fuel economy that's better than the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel V-6 and Mercedes-Benz's ML350 BlueTEC diesel.
True, both the Jeep and the Merc have slightly more power, but not enough to notice. And in terms of refinement, VW's diesel is extremely good.
The Touareg is also a refined rig. This shouldn't surprise anyone. It's the product of a joint development arrangement with Porsche (Cayenne) and Audi (Q7). The cabin is refined, the ride quality is smooth, the eight-speed automatic gearbox shifts with a seamless precision that feels luxurious and the chassis is robust enough to tow 3,500 kilograms.
Inside, the materials look and feel expensive. The graining of the plastics would be at home in any upmarket SUV. The infotainment system is easy to manage and the gauge cluster has big readouts, offering all manner of data, instantly accessible without reading glasses.
Seats? Comfortable and thickly padded. Room? Lots of it for you and your cargo.
THE BAD: The Touareg is not a Top Safety Pick of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Among mainstream SUVs of similar size, the 2014 Toyota Highlander is. So are 2014 versions of the Acura MDX, Merc's M and even Volvo's XC90, all classified as "luxury rigs."
True, the Cayenne and Q7 are not Top Safety Picks, either, so it's no surprise to see the Touareg fall short in IIHS testing. And the margin of failure is small. The Touareg rates "Good" in all crash tests, just not good enough over all.
The biggest issue with the Touareg is that it's too much money for an SUV from a mainstream brand. The least expensive Touareg lists for nearly $51,000 and my test rig listed for $66,560 with freight and options. A loaded Highlander, which is wonderfully reliable and safe, tops out at about $45,000 for the Limited model.
VW will argue its Touareg is so complete and delightful that it's worth every penny, that it's a match not for a run-of-the-mill Toyota, but instead a Mercedes and a super-ritzy Jeep Grand Cherokee. VW will argue, off the record, that the Touareg is the poor man's Porsche, not an overpriced VW.
Maybe. But this goes to the heart of the problems VW suffers in North America. In a nutshell, VW has an inflated sense of its own brand. North American consumers do not see VW as the near-premium brand that VW itself envisions.
But don't believe me. Listen to what Michael Horn says. He's the German executive tasked with reviving Volkswagen Group's fortunes in the United States. He's new to the job and to his credit, he's been clear about VW's problems in the U.S. and Canada. That is, VW's bosses at company headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, need to change their mindset.
"We need to push more. Not here, but in Wolfsburg," Horn recently told Reuters. "It's about how to translate the American market in Wolfsburg. They need to listen to the market, the competitive situation."
Exactly. The Touareg is not a mainstream SUV, but VW is a mainstream brand. And, if you believe Consumer Reports' latest Brand Report Card, not a particularly well-regarded one. VW ranked 17th out of 23 brands in that study – below Toyota, Honda, Subaru and Mazda. Chrysler, Kia and Hyundai, too.
In Wolfsburg, the bosses think the VW brand is superior to Toyota, Kia and their ilk. But in North America, CR brand ratings suggest that VW is not making the best all-around vehicles. Indeed, in quality studies, the Touareg ranks below average.
So yes, the Touareg is everything that is good and bad about VW.
Tech Specs
2014 Volkswagen Touareg 3.0 TDI Highline
Type: Mid-size sport-utility vehicle
Price: $64,950
Gas engine: 3.0-litre V-6 turbodiesel
Output (horsepower/torque): 240/406 lb-ft
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Drive: All-wheel drive
Fuel economy (litres/100 km): 10.8 city/6.7 highway, using diesel fuel
Alternatives (diesel): 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel, Mercedes-Benz ML350 BlueTEC
If you have questions about driving or car maintenance, please contact our experts at globedrive@globeandmail.com.
Follow us on Twitter @Globe_Drive.
Add us to your circles.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter.