Volkswagen’s desert-dwelling Touareg One Million model arrives in the Middle East


Simon Wilgress-Pipe
  • English
  • Arabic

Volkswagen Touareg’s One Million model has arrived in the Middle East, complete with an array of exclusive equipment to lift it above its brethren.

The astute won’t be surprised to learn the name references the milestone number of units the manufacturer has sold (though it’s probably a few more than that now as this special edition was first announced last year).

Alongside new paintwork and wheel trims, the One Million has Puglia leather seats, ornamented with diamond stitching, which has also been applied to the steering wheel, gear lever and dashboard, as well as badges spread both inside and outside the vehicle that lets you know it’s a different beast to all those other models out and about.

Since its introduction in 2002, the Touareg, which has had three distinct versions in its history, has been a key part of Volkswagen’s line-up, occupying, as it still does, a segment falling between mainstream and high-end SUVs.

Click through the gallery above to see images of the Touareg One Million, and past versions of the vehicle. 

Back in the day, it was a car created using the combined talents of Volkswagen and fellow German manufacturers Audi and Porsche, and the brief was to create a vehicle that could handle the worst off-road conditions imaginable and yet still drive like a sports car.

If you count the successes of purpose-built versions in hardcore motoring events such as the Dakar Rally, they achieved their aim.

In terms of cost, you won't be surprised to hear the One Million is a little pricier than an average Touareg, with models starting at about the Dh320,600 ($87,300) mark.

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees

Director: Kaouther Ben Hania

Rating: 4/5

Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

Mobile phone packages comparison
Company profile

Name: Steppi

Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic

Launched: February 2020

Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year

Employees: Five

Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai

Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings

Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year

Specs

Price, base: Dhs850,000
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 591bhp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.3L / 100km