November 28, 2006 - Volkswagen has been doing the whole "crossover-thing" long before "crossovers" were even cool. Well okay... VeeDub has been doing crossovers since at least before they were considered to be the "next big thing" in autos. VW's hard-to-pronounce (and spell) Touareg first hit U.S. shores in 2003 as an '04 model, and it created a pretty fair amount of buzz. This German carmaker - known primarily for the cute little Bug - was now trying to sell a big and very-Eurocentric "SUV" to Americans weaned on boxier and "tougher" offerings from the likes of Chevy and Ford. Back in '03, people were skeptical that this rounded wanna-be "truck" would be able to lure soccer moms away from their trusty "traditional" SUVs. Now that it's 2006 and "SUV" is one letter away from being a four-letter word, everyone and their grandma is trying to get a piece of the premium car-based Crossover Utility Vehicle market. Was VeeDub really one of the first on the scene? And if so, can the almost 4-year old CUV still hold up to the newer offerings rolling down the line? Our answer is "yes". If we've learned anything during our stint here at IGN Cars, it's that Germany knows how to make a damn fine automobile. So it should go without saying that Volkswagen's Touareg is one of the finest CUVs on the market today. The Touareg isn't one of the best on the market because it looks pretty - because it doesn't. It's not bad looking, but it sure as hell isn't as "pretty" as its Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne siblings. The Touareg certainly isn't photogenic, but it's certainly acceptable to look at "in the metal". One thing that the pictures can't convey is just how big the Touareg feels when viewed in person. It's not as massive as a Cadillac Escalade, but for a VeeDub, the Touareg is huge.
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