Volkswagen’s premium-class Touareg SUV will be replaced at the end of this year, with the new model including a plug-in hybrid for the first time.

The new Volkswagen Touareg

Unveiled in China, the Touareg’s expected biggest market and where Volkswagen said over half of its sales could soon be SUVs thanks to ten new models due before 2020, the first examples will come to Europe during the summer as the flagship of the range.

Wider and longer than its predecessor, but with a lighter structure, it’s said to offer a significant increase in cargo capacity and will launch with a choice of 231hp and 286hp V6 diesel engines when it comes to Europe this summer. There will also be 340hp V6 petrol and 421hp V8 diesel engines in selected markets.

A 367hp plug-in hybrid version, primarily designed for the Chinese market, will come to Europe afterwards, but Volkswagen is still assessing the timetable for its arrival. Expect this to offer a range of around 31 miles when fully charged, paired with a V6 petrol engine similar to the technology used by the Porsche Panamera.

The Touareg debuts a new mostly-digital dashboard, with a 15-inch navigation display that replaces most of the physical buttons. New technology includes night vision, semi-autonomous driving functions, matrix LED headlights and all-wheel steering and electromechanically-controlled anti-roll bars to improve agility.