2025 Volkswagen Taos: Employee of the Year

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you know that things aren't going well at Volkswagen. Sales are down in most markets, profits are slim, staff cuts are drastic, and all this while the automaker must negotiate with the general challenges affecting the industry globally.

Paradoxically, Volkswagen had its best year ever in Canada in terms of sales. And while the Taos may not be very popular with our neighbours to the south because of its small size, it is one of the reasons behind the manufacturer's good health here as the best-seller in the catalogue.

It's an arms race in the compact SUV segment, with competitors increasingly better equipped, more efficient and more electrified. Since its introduction, the Taos has exhibited a number of weaknesses, starting with an ill adapted 7-speed (dual clutch) transmission and a rudimentary, bland flavoured interior. Then, the automaker announced a series of improvements for the Taos' 2025 model year.

The Car Guide was in San Antonio earlier this month to take it for a test drive.

Improved Cockpit

Aside from a revised front end paired with new, Atlas-inspires taillights, the Taos retains its overall design. It's inside that the aesthetic changes are most pronounced, where the manufacturer has improved the cabin in several respects. The new “floating” 8-inch central screen offered as standard on all variants is a predominant part of the dashboard’s redesign. While Volkswagen has opted for controversial touch-sensitive buttons for essential controls such as ventilation, we still applaud the effort to keep physical controls rather than centralizing everything in the screen. And after a day driving around in the Taos, we concluded that these touch-sensitive controls are far less temperamental and easier to use than we’ve experienced in past and current VW models.

With well-adapted seats offering particularly appreciable lateral support, the Taos doesn't skimp on comfort and space, even for cargo, which benefits from considerable volume for the Taos's size.

To bring itself up to date in the segment, the IQ.Drive advanced safety suite comes as standard with benefits like rear parking distance control system, and the post-collision emergency braking system as standard, with the semi-automatic Travel Assist driver assistance system (optional).

Less Hiccups

The technical improvements made to the Taos are considerable for a mid-cycle refresh. Firstly, its 1.5-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder engine gets new injectors, revised piston rings, a redesigned turbocharger and a larger air/air intercooler. A new particulate filter is also part of the package to help the Taos meet its emissions targets. The result of these improvements is an increase in horsepower from 158 to 174, while torque remains at 184 lb-ft.

But the pièce de résistance is the 7-speed, dual-clutch autobox’s retirement from 4MOTION all-wheel drive models. These models now use the conventional 8-speed transmission from the front-wheel-drive models. On the road, the 4MOTION Taos' new transmission is more responsive off the line, a positive point that will appeal to city drivers. However, there's still some fine-tuning to be done at high speeds, where pickups are still slow and hesitant. While the Taos’ overall driving dynamics tend towards comfort rather than signature VW sportiness, the increase in power is moderately present, giving the Taos a welcome boost in this respect.

In terms of fuel consumption, the Taos burned 7.4 L/100 km on a mostly highway course, indicating that the mechanical changes haven’t negatively impacted its ratings.

The improvements made to the Taos suit it well, but it still has a few creases to iron. It only has one engine option, and while it ticks all the right boxes for a sub-compact SUV, it doesn't stand out in any of them, which can be a disadvantage in such a popular segment.

Volkswagen has all the tools it needs to create a small SUV worthy of replacing the Golf that would stand out in the segment in terms of dynamics, but engineers have chosen to take the blander, comfortable approach. And we can’t blame them too much for it, because the Taos is the employee of the year in terms of Canadian sales!

The refreshed Volkswagen Taos should arrive in dealerships in early 2025. Pricing starts at $29,795 for the base variant with front-wheel drive, while the Trendline version with all-wheel drive will cost $31,795, plus taxes and delivery charges.