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2007 Volkswagen Touran

Later this month in Paris, VW will publicly unveil the latest iteration of its Touran compact MPV. The seven-seater gets a new Passat/Eos-style face that features VW's new grille and headlamp designs. A walk around back reveals a redesigned bumper and new taillamps. It's not the sexiest MPV you'll ever see, but it's clean and appealing to the eye. The refreshed interior incorporates some upgraded materials and adds MP3 support to the stock head uniit. The instrument panel and controls are all logically arranged.

The big news for the '07 Touran is the introduction of Volkswagen's ParkAssist system. It uses sensors fore and aft to help the driver place the car in the optimal position to park and then waits for him or her to engage reverse. Once that happens, the car takes over steering while the driver controls the gas and brake. VW claims that the car will park itself within 15 seconds.

Power-wise, a selection of diesel and gasoline 4-cylinders will be available, including the new 140 hp Twincharger 1.4L TSI.

European MPVs are pretty cool. Yes, they're smaller than the traditional American minivan, but they often have nicer, sportier styling. Consider this: if, for example, Ford was selling the S-Max and Galaxy here instead of the Freestar, would they have axed their minivan program in favor of the Fairlane? Not likely. Ford's Euro MPVs are two of the more stylish people movers you'll find anywhere. People would actually be buying them. (Kudos to Ford, however, for bringing over the Mazda5.)

Will we ever see this VW? Nope, We're getting a machine based on the new Chrysler minivan platform, meaning it'll be big. If we're lucky, however, some of this Touran's understated style will rub off on it.

(Detailed press release, photos after the jump)

[Source: Volkswagen UK]

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Paris Preview: VW Shows off the new Touran originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 13 Sep 2006 03:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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