LEAKED! – This is the 3rd generation Volkswagen Touareg – UPDATED

The 3rd generation Touareg is set to be presented at the 2017 Shanghai Auto Show, but the MLP 2 (Evo)-based SUV will not be such a novelty when the Chinese event opens its gates. At least not for our readers and the ones that follow Auto Motor und Sport, which has first published the patent images of the big crossover.

If you pay careful attention to the details, as our friend Adrian Pădeanu did, you’ll see this vehicle is exactly like the T-Prime GTE Concept. But Auto Motor und Sport mentions the vehicle in its article. Our assumption is that the two vehicles will be exactly the same. Or that the new patent images refer exclusively to the concept, but why patent them after the concept was already revealed? Still according to Auto Motor und Sport, the new Touareg will get close to 5 m long, such as the future Atlas (formerly known as Teramont). Its new modular platform, shared with the Audi Q7, the Porsche Cayenne and the Bentley Bentayga, will also make it be produced in Bratislava, in Slovakia.

The new SUV’s engines will be the 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6 that also powers the new Amarok, with 199 kW and a 3.0-liter V6 petrol unit able to pump out 250 kW.

The 3rd generation Touareg will also present a plugin hybrid that will use a 4-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine that can generate 185 kW alone. Coupled with the 100 kW electric motor, this Touareg will reach 280 kW and have a 50 km electric-only range.