Seven-seat VW Tayron takes fight to Kodiaq

OFFICIAL Family-focused SUV offers loads of space and tech, and has Skoda stablemate firmly in its sights

- Jordan Katsianis

THE gloves have been taken off in Volkswagen's push for market share with a new, family-focused SUV. The company's Tayron shares lots of elements with the latest Tiguan, but offers a larger body, seating for seven, and more high-end technology. It's even bigger than the closely related Skoda Kodiaq, which will no doubt create something of a family feud in a segment that the Czech brand is used to having to itself.

At 4,770mm long, the new Tayron is just over 40mm longer than its seven-seat predecessor, the Tiguan Allspace. The newcomer has a completely unique body and design to create more distinction between it and the smaller Tiguan.

The overall look is familiar, though, with sharp LED lighting front and rear, plus the option of R-Line or more sophisticated Elegance trim levels, both of which feature wheel sizes of up to 20 inches. It doesn't, however, get too close in size to the top-spec Touareg, which operates more as a halo model for the brand at the high end of the SUV market.