2023 Volkswagen Touareg facelift seen with Pahang trade plates, will it be CKD assembled in Pekan?

The latest generation Volkswagen Touareg has been spotted in Malaysia by reader Erh Pin. What’s interesting is that this particular unit, although undisguised, is wearing the same Pahang trade plates that we previously saw on a Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk8 roaming around Pekan, Pahang where Volkswagens are locally assembled. Does this mean this latest generation Volkswagen Touareg is destined for Malaysian showrooms as a CKD model?

The Touareg used to be on sale in Malaysia for two generations. We saw the first gen Touareg on sale here, and this was later replaced by the second generation Volkswagen Touareg which saw up to three engine variants sold – the petrol FSI V6, the TSI hybrid, and even the TDI diesel model.

When the third generation Touareg was introduced however, it was not launched in Malaysia. The model you see here is the facelifted version of the third generation that was unveiled in May 2023, five years after the third gen was first launched. Unlike the pre-facelift third gen Touareg, the facelifted one gets the full width tail lamp design you see on this car.

This latest Touareg update was launched with five powertrain versions, all with 3.0 litre V6 engines. The first is a turbocharged petrol unit that serves up 340 PS (335 hp or 250 kW), which is followed by two turbodiesel options making 231 PS (228 hp or 170 kW) and 286 PS (282 hp or 210 kW).

The remaining two drive systems are plug-in hybrids with an electric motor that carry the ‘eHybrid’ label and provide 381 PS (375 hp or 280 kW) in the Touareg eHybrid, or 462 PS (456 hp or 340 kW) in the returning Touareg R eHybrid. All powertrains come standard with an eight-speed automatic transmission and 4Motion permanent all-wheel drive system.

The Touareg’s various other MLB Evo shared platform siblings are already on sale in Malaysia – the Cayenne, Bentayga, Q7, Q8 and Urus. The Cayenne is even locally assembled in Sime Darby’s facility in Kulim, Kedah.

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