Not a mix of Taycan and Chiron parts, unfortunately – instead the Tayron is a sensible SUV from the makers of sensible SUVs.
Another Volkswagen SUV, we hear you ask? Yes, welcome to the new Volkswagen Tayron. It’s an XL version of the best-selling VW Tiguan with either five or seven seats – following on from the outgoing Tiguan Allspace.
Volkswagen Tayron prices and specs
The first of five trim levels starts at £39,850 – so the entry-level Life trim is the one to go for if you want to avoid the ‘expensive car supplement’ being added to your road tax bill. But with a standard equipment list that includes LED headlights with auto high-beam assist, three-zone climate control, adaptive cruise control and self-parking tech, you’re not missing out on much.
The other trim levels are Match, Elegance, R-Line and R-Line Edition, with Match and R-Line Edition reserved for the plug-in hybrid engines.
Elegance is more luxury-focused, with open-pore wood interior trim and laminated side glass, while R-Line gets the sporty body kit and moody black trim. Both come with a powered tailgate and keyless entry.
A top-spec Tayron will cost between £50,000 and £55,000, with more details to be released shortly.
Orders open for the Tayron on Thursday 9 January.
Interior
Surprise, surprise, the Tayron gets an interior that’s very similar to the Tiguan it’s based on. Taking centre stage is a 12.9-inch touchscreen, which we’ve already seen in the Tiguan, Passat and the facelifted Golf. In those cars it’s very responsive and much easier to use than previous VW software, thanks to a huge amount of configurability on the home screen.
Built-in sat nav is included, as is Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The touchscreen also incorporates VW’s new IDA voice assistant with ChatGPT functionality, which’ll be good if you’re lonely in the car and want a robotic humanoid to chat to. It’s included to answer a broader spread of queries than a standard voice assistance system, although in our experience it can still stutter with some questions.
A 15-inch mega screen is available as an option, as is a head-up display. Given that every Tayron gets a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster as well as a big touchscreen, this is an option we probably wouldn’t tick.
Other options include a massaging driver’s seat, ventilated front seats, a panoramic sunroof and a Harman Kardon sound system.
Boot space and dimensions
| Volkswagen Tiguan | Volkswagen Tayron | |
| Length | 4,539mm | 4,770mm |
| Height | 1,660mm | 1,660mm |
| Width | 1,842mm (excluding mirrors) | 1,852mm (excluding mirrors) |
| Wheelbase | 2,676mm | 2,791mm |
The Tayron is about 25cm longer than a Tiguan and fractionally longer than a Skoda Kodiaq – but the Tayron and Kodiaq will offer a similar amount of space inside as the wheelbase is identical.
You can order the Tayron with five or seven seats (plug-in hybrid ones are five-seat only), and Volkswagen freely admits that the third row of seats are for smaller passengers – so it’ll be a bit of a squeeze for most adults. And it’s a bit of a missed opportunity that there aren’t any Isofix points in the back row.
Boot space is incredibly impressive. Five-seat petrol or diesel cars boast a whopping 885 litres, while the seven-seater has 850 litres with the third row folded. The plug-in hybrid still has a class-leading boot, with 705 litres to fill – the difference in volume will come from a lack of underfloor storage in the eHybrid.
Engines
The Tayron sticks with a pretty familiar engine lineup. There’s even a diesel engine! It’s VW’s tried-and-tested 2.0-litre lump, and is available with 150hp and front-wheel drive.
Petrol engines start with a mild-hybrid assisted 1.5-litre TSI. Above that there’s a 2.0-litre TSI engine with either 204hp or 265hp, both with four-wheel drive.
The 2.0-litre engines are available to order from Thursday 20 February, while the other engines are on sale immediately.
Then there’s the eHybrid plug-in version, which produces either 204hp or 272hp. It’ll offer around 60 miles of electric driving on a full charge.
All Tayrons have an automatic gearbox. The gearlever has moved to the stalk behind the steering wheel, freeing up space on the centre console for a new smart dial that can be used to adjust the volume or the car’s driving mode.
Full performance and economy specs are coming in due course but, in the Tiguan, the petrol and diesel engines manage 45mpg and 52mpg respectively.
Safety
While the Tayron hasn’t been tested by Euro NCAP just yet, we’d fully expect a five-star score for top family car credentials. For reference, the Tiguan got the full five stars with scores of 83% for adult occupant protection and 88% for child protection.
There’s certainly plenty of safety tech in the Tayron. As standard, you get lane-keep assist and lane-change assist, auto emergency braking with cyclist and pedestrian detection, and traffic sign recognition – plus driver assistance features like adaptive cruise control, self-parking tech and a reversing camera.
Can’t wait for the Tayron? Shop used Volkswagen SUV cars for sale, or read our guide to the best 7-seater SUVs.
