In an interview with Top Gear magazine at the Swiss showpiece over the weekend, Jurgen Stackmann said a long discussion ensued as to whether the Touareg or indeed the Porsche Cayenne should’ve received the 310kW/900Nm 4.0-litre bent-eight motor, with the latter eventually being classified as the “prime car”.
“It can handle any competitor from around the world. Giving it a V8 twist is a very special honour, and I believe it’s going to be a collector’s car, from day one,” Stackmann said, adding that “most likely, it’ll be the last V8 diesel car you’ll see”.
“I’ve met a lot of Touareg V10 TDI customers, and those that have one will never sell it. It’ll be the same idea with the V8. It’s for those customers who want something very special, and they’ll get it. With Porsche, you can see the combination of making plug-in cars the highest performance cars is very right for Porsche. That’s the beauty of the VW Group. We have many different brands with different positionings. The V8 won’t go into other cars, but it manifests the Touareg as a premium, flagship car”.
For now, the Touareg V8 TDI remains forbidden fruit for South Africa, though it will go on sale in Europe sometime in May of this year.
