New SUV's starting price of over R800k for base model likely to be a sticky point.
Volkswagen this week officially rolled out the Tayron, an SUV capable of carrying seven occupants.
The Tayron (pronounced thai-ron) replaces the seven-seater Tiguan Allspace for the moment, and might later also become the successor to the Touareg.
Reports indicate that the flagship Touareg SUV will go out of production next year. Because there is no immediate successor, the door is open for a five-seater Tayron to replace it.
VW Tayron makes a Pitstop
On this week’s episode of The Citizen Motoring‘s Pitstop podcast, we discuss the introduction of the Tayron. Although it’s a solid offering we feel that the base model’s price of R811 800 will not do it any favours. It goes up to R853 800 for the Life and R899 900 for the R-Line model.
The Tayron is initially only available in one engine derivative; the venerable 1.4-litre TSI turbo petrol mill. It is mated to seven-speed automated double clutch DSG transmission which sends the twist to the front wheels.
ALSO READ: Volkswagen opens pre-orders for Tiguan Allspace-replacing Tayron
The base model comes standard with 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring and 18-inch Bologna alloy wheels.
Moving up to the Life, three-zone climate control, 10-colour ambient lighting, nine airbags and illuminated VW logos at the front and rear are standard.
R-Line looks the part
The R-Line gets a bespoke bumper front bumper, LED Plus headlights amps, Varenna leather trim, heated and massaging front seats, 30-colour ambient lighting and 19-inch Coventry alloy wheels.
The VW Tayron features 345 litres of boot space with all three rows up and 885 litres with the third row folded flat.
It rides on the same MQB platform as the Tiguan, but with its length increases of 230mm and six millimetres in width. It is also 29mm higher.
