The 2025 Volkswagen Tayron

The Volkswagen Tayron is a new entrant into the market, occupying the space formerly held by the Tiguan Allspace seven-seater. At the launch, Volkswagen explained how they are positioning themselves as the entry-level to the premium segment, and for the most part it shows.

All Tayrons are seven-seaters, and it’s a cleverly worked-out package; the vehicle seems to be no bigger than a mid-sized SUV despite boasting three rows of quality seating. It exudes practicality and functionality without eschewing design. Aesthetics are slightly subjective, yet I do like it. It is restrained and sophisticated, particularly with the thin blue line running around this R-Line version, extending across the doors and through the matching seats. It has a distinct identity while being an obvious part of the VW range.

The Tayron comes in two distinct specifications. Elegance is well equipped with technology like keyless access, 19” rims and real wood interior finishes. The R-Line targets a more sporting aesthetic, replacing the wood with unique design elements and sports seats, while riding on 20-inch alloy wheels to complete a slightly more purposeful look.

Inside, the generous screen is functional, while the steering wheel is given many buttons to help you stay focused on the road. On this higher-spec model, options like ventilated front seats and a head-up display come standard. It’s no surprise that there is a ton of room here: with up to 850 litres of luggage capacity with the third row folded or 1,905 litres with both the second and third seat rows folded.

Tayron sports a driving experience control from comfort to sport. Multiple settings can be set at the same time with the ‘Atmospheres’ function: from background lighting to custom layouts of the dash.

Driver assistance functions are plentiful with lane keeping, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control and electronic stability control. Thankfully these are well integrated into the driving experience and warnings are only sounded when essential.

The handling is well-tuned for both around town and longer trips, where it sails along beautifully. The drivetrain options are the 150kW and 195kW 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engines, which both deliver reasonable fuel economy. The 320 to 400 Nm torque makes for an impressive towing capacity of up to 2,500 kg when braked.

I used the vehicle for a range of duties in the time I had it. On the out of town drive it was quiet, comfortable and simply easy to drive. It didn’t miss a beat when we hit 10K of gravel, it just continued to express quiet control over it’s surroundings. City driving and there’s no hiding that it’s a large vehicle, yet with good visibility thanks to the camera package, there’s no space we couldn’t tackle.

There is a lot of competition between manufacturers in the warranty space and we applaud this! VW offers a 5-Year / 150,000km warranty standard across the range, and the first 3 services are included in the price and roadside assistance should you need it. It also comes with a 5-star ANCAP safety rating. We think Tayron is a very strong offering that ticks all the boxes for Kiwi families. This looks like it will be a strong seller!

Tayron is priced from $78,990.