VW Touran in Thailand end-2010?

So, we already know that the new Touran will be assembled in VW's new plant in Indonesia. The small new piece of information that we get is that the Touran will be made available in Thailand, priced similar to what the Wish is selling now.

We already know that production of the second generation Wish in Thailand will be discontinued and it is highly unlikely that the new second generation Wish will continue to be made available to the Thais, given the relatively low sales volume in its existing form. Even the second generation model, have not been a hit amongst grey importers / parallel importers of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. So it is very unlikely that the second generation Wish will be made available officially to ASEAN markets. Handling the entire midi-MPV segment to the Honda Stream RSZ, which itself is already selling a lot less than their peak about 7 years ago when both the first generation Stream and Wish are the two most popular parallel imported cars. Somehow, the grown up Wish appears to have lost much of the sporty appeal that made the first generation model such a big hit.



But assuming that the rumour is true, that the new Touran comes in after the Wish leaves, there are still many doubts. This is a region that has shown itself that ASEAN consumers want an MPV that does not look like an MPV. Surely the Touran's conservative styling will not interest many. I think the last time a similarly classed and conservatively styled European MPV that sold in big numbers was the Chevy Nabira - it sold relatively well in urban Bangkok but the higher cost subsequent generation models were not made available to this region.

But what the Touran lacks in design appeal, it more than makes up for it with its twin-charged 1.4-litre TSI engine that produces 170 bhp is more than enough to smoke the 138 bhp (140PS) 1.8-litre four that powers the Honda Stream RSZ - the current "sportiest" MPV that Honda Malaysia likes to market it as a "7-day coupe," whatever that means. Coupled that with a 7-speed ultra fast shifting DSG transmission and you'll start to wonder why bother with the looks. Let's go for the "all go and no show" philosophy.


So you can say it's kind of a sleeper. Perfect for those who get some kick out of surprising those loud cars in an unassuming Q-car.

There is also a cleverly designed EcoFuel (CNG) variant that hides the bulky CNG tanks underneath the floorboards.