Volkswagen did not do a lot to the Taos for 2024. As is occurring with fairly a number of fashions amongst numerous automakers, VW’s utilizing 2024 as a holdover 12 months for the Taos whereas it prepares a refreshed model in 2025. And as inducement to patrons to not look forward to the 2025 mannequin, VW launched an evergreen and endlessly fashionable Black Bundle for the mid-level SE trim. The explanatory supplies say it “accents the bold exterior styling of Taos with black wheels, a black roof, darkened exterior design elements, and projector headlights with an illuminated front grille.” Inside, patrons will discover the standard smattering of shiny black trim, paired with blue stitching. Pricing begins at $30,365 for the SE Black in front-wheel-drive guise earlier than the $1,425 vacation spot charge, which comes out to $31,790. Getting energy to the rear axle means paying $33,440 for the SE Black 4Motion.
The bundle is not on the Taos configurator at VW’s retail web site on the time of writing. So far as we will inform, the bundle provides $2,200 to the worth of the FWD trim, $2,400 to the worth of the AWD trim, with $395 of the premiums being the black wheels which are out there on the configurator. Talking of which, the above Taos is the closest we might get to the SE Black utilizing the configurator; the actual mannequin must be even blacker, relying on the outside coloration chosen.
VW did not do a lot else to the vary. The IQ.Drive driver help bundle is now customary on each Taos, bringing adaptive cruise management and lane-keeping help to even the bottom Taos S. That trim stage additionally picks up a regular heated leatherette steering wheel and rain-sensing wipers. And the SE trim stage picks up dual-zone automated local weather management.
Whereas a VW press launch may be the one place one finds this particular “Taos” and “bold” in the identical sentence, the mini Atlas nonetheless one among our top-recommended SUVs and is performing some gutsy comparatively numbers on the gross sales sheet. Just a few automobiles virtually personal this crossover area, the Subaru Crosstrek and Bronco Sport each doing nicely over 100,000 models apiece within the U.S. final 12 months. Beneath these, the Chevrolet Trailblazer, Hyundai Kona, Jeep Compass, and Mazda CX-30 dwell within the crimson zone close to 100,000 models. The Taos has been on sale three years within the U.S., going from practically 32,000 models in 2021 to 50,371 models in 2022 and 58,890 models final 12 months. That is a pleasant little gross sales curve conserving the Taos simply behind the Kia Seltos and its 60,053 gross sales within the U.S., and everybody’s forward of the fading Jeep Renegade that did simply 26,012 gross sales final 12 months.