Is the Tayron worth the price tag? Spoiler: it impresses!

FIRST seen at the Volkswagen Indaba in Gqeberha earlier this year, the Tayron has now officially made its local debut.

- WILLEM VAN DE PUTTE

Before we go any further, VW was at pains to explain that it’s pronounced Tie-ron (as in necktie), not Tay-ron.

Designed and built at Volkswagen’s head office in Wolfsburg, the seven-seater (five in the Base version) is positioned between the Touareg and the Tiguan, replacing the phased-out Tiguan Allspace.

Lineup

It comes in three derivatives: the Tayron Base, Life and R-Line.

The five-seater Base is equipped with Eco LED headlights, park assist, a blind spot monitor with rear traffic alert, a 12.9-inch infotainment system, adaptive cruise control with front assist, lane keeping assist and 18-inch Bologna alloy wheels.

The Tayron Life gets an additional three-zone automatic climate control, 10-colour ambient lighting, nine airbags, driving experience control (which adjusts driving profiles), wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto App-Connect, digital instrument cluster, LED headlights with automatic main beam control and illuminated Volkswagen logos at the front and rear.

The range-topping R-Line receives sports comfort seats in Varenna leather, leather inserts in the dash panel and the doors, faux aluminium decorative trim, R-Line bumpers and 19-inch Coventry alloy wheels.

It’s also fitted with LED Plus headlights (including dynamic cornering light), 3D LED tail clusters with dynamic turn signal and 30-colour ambient lighting.

As always, there are a number of optional packages, including the Black Style package for the Tayron R-Line.