VW Tayron to replace Tiguan Allspace in Aus

VOLKSWAGEN’S Tiguan Allspace large seven-seat SUV will be replaced by a new model called Tayron in Australia before the end of 2025, company executives confirmed at a recent media briefing in Sydney.

The Tayron nameplate has been used by Volkswagen’s Chinese joint venture with FAW since late 2018 on a medium SUV – and coupe derivative that arrived in the second quarter of 2020 – of similar size to the current-generation Tiguan five-seater.

Volkswagen confirmed earlier this year that the Tayron would become a global model and although no reveal date has yet been confirmed, it is expected to emerge during 2024 and arrive in Australia the following year.

Addressing Australian automotive media, Volkswagen Group Australia passenger vehicles head of product Michelle Rowney said, “I can confirm that the Tiguan Allspace replacement will be named Tayron in Australia”.

It will be a busy 18 months or so of product launches for the German car-maker’s Australian arm, key among which will be the arrival of its ID.4, ID.5 and ID.Buzz battery electric vehicle (BEV) models, with BEV sales and service available across the entire national VW dealership network from the get-go.

First up will be the facelifted Touareg flagship large SUV, headlined by the plug-in hybrid R performance variant in March or April, followed mid-year by the ID.4 SUV and its ID.5 coupe derivative – both arriving in facelifted form with performance-oriented GTX variants – then a facelifted T-Cross light SUV with significant interior and tech overhaul is scheduled to arrive around springtime.

The ID.Buzz in five- and seven-seat people mover plus Cargo commercial van formats, as well as the new T7-generation Multivan people-mover will arrive in the fourth quarter, with a mid-life facelift for the Crafter large van also arriving during the year majoring on technological upgrades.

In 2025 a facelifted Golf small hatch, the third-generation Tiguan medium SUV, Tayron large SUV and new-generation Transporter commercial van and related Caravelle people mover will roll out in Australia, as well as a California camper variant of the T7 Multivan.

Volkswagen’s Golf-sized ID.3 and Polo-sized ID.2 BEV models are also confirmed for Australia “beyond 2024”.

Official Tayron details remain scarce, but it will reportedly grow compared to the outgoing Tiguan Allspace which is 4734mm long and 1839mm wide, likely landing somewhere around the size of the next-generation Skoda Kodiaq which is 24mm longer and 25mm wider than the current Allspace, and will go on sale in Australia in 2024.

The Tayron is unlikely to nudge the footprint of the North American market Atlas SUV that is 5096mm long, 1989mm wide and a significant 123mm taller than a Tiguan Allspace.

An increase in size, if combined with improved packaging, could address some of the Tiguan Allspace’s third-row practicality compromises and give Volkswagen a genuine rival to the Kia Sorento and upcoming Mazda CX-80.

The Atlas, along with the T7 Multivan – that in long wheelbase form is 5173mm from bumper to bumper – are the largest models to ride on Volkswagen Group’s ubiquitous MQB (modular transverse matrix) architecture, also used for vehicles as small as the Polo light hatchback, as well as the new Kodiaq and Tayron.

Overseas reports suggest the Tayron’s styling will differentiate it from the third-generation Tiguan that is expected to launch in Australia in late 2024, although where it will sit compared to the sleek new-generation Tiguan and bluff, butch styling of larger VWs like the Atlas and Amarok remains to be seen.

GoAuto understands the Tiguan Allspace – made in Mexico primarily for the North American market that does not receive the regular five-seat Tiguan – will be discontinued, although it could be succeeded by a version of the Tayron that wears Tiguan badging for brand recognition purposes in North American markets.

Confusingly the Tiguan Allspace is also made in China for the domestic market in another joint venture, with SAIC, under which the model is sold as the Tiguan L. Like North America, the Chinese market never received the regular wheelbase Tiguan, although a coupe-style Tiguan X version launched there in 2020.

In his inaugural media address, new Volkswagen Group Australia managing director Karsten Siefert said a global streamlining of product development processes would be addressed with VW’s Chinese partners “in a different way”.

This move could reduce the number of China-specific models and nameplates in VW’s global portfolio, explaining the roll-out of Tayron as a nameplate used in markets worldwide.