Volkswagen T-Prime Concept GTE previews Touareg

Volkswagen Touareg previewed by T-Prime Concept GTE.

Words Neil Briscoe Published 25 April 2016

What's the news?

We'd seen the preview photos before, but here it is at the Beijing Motor Show, in the flesh, Volkswagen's new Touareg, albeit in slightly spangly T-Prime Concept GTE form. It's a big, smooth-looking SUV, and Volkswagen is making lots of noise about its high-tech new interior. It's a 'glass cockpit' in aviation terms - all screens, hardly any buttons. Even the eight-speed automatic transmission is controlled by a glass-screen click-wheel: iPod control finally comes to your gearbox... There's also gesture control for the huge, curved central display screen.

Underneath is a 381hp GTE plugin hybrid drivetrain, which can go for 50km on a full charge of its lithium ion battery pack. Style-wise it's very much a blend of the new Tiguan and the previously seen CrossBlue concept.

Also on the Volkswagen stand are the Magotan (terrible name, actually a long-wheelbase Passat), the new Phideon (a large luxury saloon, but not the new Phaeton) and the Budd-e concept (the microbus-style all-electric concept already seen in the US).

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