Volkswagen Tayron arrives in Portugal with seven seats and engine range

With pre-orders open since the start of the year, the first examples of the Volkswagen Tayron have now begun arriving on the Portuguese market.

Volkswagen’s new, more family-focused SUV shares its platform with the Tiguan, but stands apart by offering greater interior room and, in certain versions, seating for up to seven occupants.

Positioned as a worthy replacement for the Tiguan Allspace, this new Tayron is more closely aligned with the European market. Unlike its Mexico-built predecessor, the Volkswagen Tayron is manufactured at the German brand’s main plant in Wolfsburg.

The entry-level model uses a 150 hp 1.5 eTSI petrol engine, paired with a DSG automatic gearbox and front-wheel drive. The remaining versions are shown in the following table:

Class 1 or Class 2?

Volkswagen says the new Volkswagen Tayron is not simply a stretched Tiguan. In terms of size, the Tayron is 25 cm longer than its more compact relative, with 11 cm of that increase added to the wheelbase. Width and height differ only marginally.

Visually, however, there is little to distinguish them. The changes are limited to the design of the bumpers, alloy wheels and bonnet. The latter difference is slight but significant: on the Tiguan, the bonnet sits 1 cm below the threshold separating Class 1 from Class 2 toll categories.

On the Tayron, the bonnet is 1 cm above that threshold, placing it in Class 2; however, when using Via Verde, it is charged as Class 1.

Seven seats, but not in every version

One of the Volkswagen Tayron’s key benefits over the Tiguan is the option of accommodating up to seven people. That said, this layout is not offered across the entire range.

Tayron models fitted with a plug-in hybrid system cannot have a third row of seats because the system’s batteries are positioned beneath the boot floor. As a result, these versions are always limited to five seats, as with the Tiguan, although they provide considerably more room for both passengers and luggage.

Depending on the seating arrangement, the Tayron’s boot capacity ranges from 345 litres to 1915 litres. Folding the second row and the front passenger seat backrest also creates space for carrying items measuring around three metres in length.

Volkswagen Tayron engines for almost every preference

The Volkswagen Tayron engine range includes petrol and Diesel choices. These can be combined either with plug-in hybrid technology or with a simpler 48 V mild-hybrid system. There is no fully electric version, and none is expected.

Outputs range from 150 hp in the 1.5 eTSI and 2.0 TDI models to 272 hp in the range’s most powerful plug-in hybrid system. The other plug-in hybrid variant produces 204 hp. Both use a 25.7 kWh battery, providing up to 120 km of electric range or almost 850 km of combined range.