Volkswagen Touareg R plug-in hybrid confirmed

VW’s first hot plug-in hybrid R model will be based on the Touareg, and it’s expected to go on sale in 2021

Volkswagen bosses have confirmed that a Touareg R is on the way, and that the high-performance SUV will be a plug-in hybrid, Auto Express can reveal. 

The Touareg R will be first electrified model to be launched from VW’s high-performance division and is expected to arrive in showrooms in 2021. 

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VW’s sales and marketing boss Jurgen Stackmann, told us that even VW’s R division will have to adopt electrification as the German brand aims to become a carbon neutral company by 2050. 

“For the near future we will see R’s in the conventional from,” Stackmann said. “But as our mission is to become carbon neutral by 2050, the R division needs to get on the way also.

“So the first R model that will get a plug-in hybrid will be Touareg, and the task is for Jost Capito (head of Volkswagen’s R performance division) and his team is delivering an electric future for R – we have to move it along.”

Technical details on the Touareg R remain scarce but the high-performance edition is expected to make use of the same mechanical layout as the forthcoming Touareg plug-in hybrid. That means a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine paired with a powerful electric motor developing around 400bhp.

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