2025 Volkswagen SUVs: What's New With the Tiguan, Taos, Atlas, and ID4
VW overhauls its bestselling nameplate this year, but it's missing one key option.
Revisions to Volkswagen’s SUV lineup this year may not be as sweeping as what’s going on with its cars, but every model sees some update. The brand’s small crossovers are the primary focus for 2025, each receiving a significant revamp. Bigger models also land some appreciated improvements. Keep reading to find out what's new for 2025 Volkswagen SUVs.
2025 Volkswagen Taos: What’s New
Volkswagen delivers powertrain updates this year that aim to remedy some of the AWD model’s lack of refinement. Instead of the previous seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, those models now come with an eight-speed automatic transmission like the FWD variants. Engineers also extract a bit more power from the Taos' 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-four engine, now making 174 hp, up from last year’s 158 hp.
As this is a midcycle refresh for the subcompact SUV, the 2025 Taos scores minor exterior styling updates, including a revised grille and illuminated badges. New wheel designs in 17-, 18-, and 19-inch sizes and fresh exterior hues of blue, green, and gray are also available. The Taos’ updated cabin features a reworked dash, and every trim now comes with a standard 8.0-inch touchscreen.
2025 Volkswagen Taos Pros and Cons
Pros
- Big inside for a small SUV
- Generous standard feature content
- Strong, smooth FWD model
Cons
- Only one powertrain to choose from
- Safety ratings could be better
- Many compelling class rivals
2025 Volkswagen Tiguan: What’s New
Although we were hoping for a hybrid variant to debut with the redesigned Tiguan, the latest model still features some promising upgrades. The small Volkswagen SUV looks sharp in its new sheetmetal and sleek lighting elements. Its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine pumps out 17 additional horsepower this year, which could make the SUV quicker, especially considering its 170-pound weight reduction due to the use of aluminum in the suspension and high-strength hot-formed steel for the body structure.
Depending on trim, drivers can enjoy a new 12.9-inch or 15.0-inch touchscreen, upgrades from the 6.5-inch and 8.0-inch screens previously available on the Tiguan. Walnut accents jazz up the cabin, and the gearshifter has moved to the steering column, freeing up space in the center console. VW no longer offers a three-row configuration of its bestselling SUV.
2025 Volkswagen Tiguan Pros and Cons
Pros
- More power
- Improved tech
- Cramped third-row variant is gone
Cons
- Where’s the hybrid?
- Prices likely to increase
- Capacitive controls still finnicky?
2025 Volkswagen Atlas: What’s New
Volkswagen’s spacious three-row SUV received a significant update last year, so changes are understandably less plentiful for 2025. Every trim level of the Atlas receives standard automatic high-beams and a wireless phone charger, while the SEL Premium R-Line top model gains updated seat upholstery and massaging front seats with four-way lumbar support. The Peak Edition SEL has been discontinued, but its Avocado Green and Pure Grey exterior paint colors are newly available for other models, as is Mountain Lake Blue.
2025 Volkswagen Atlas Pros and Cons
Pros
- Spacious third row
- Plenty of cargo capacity
- Handsome exterior styling
Cons
- Unexciting driving experience
- Single powertrain choice
- Irksome capacitive buttons
2025 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport: What’s New
As with the Atlas, Volkswagen refreshed the Atlas Cross Sport range for 2024, meaning this year’s follow-up is light on changes. The midsize Volkswagen SUV also gains a wireless phone charger and automatic high-beams on all trim levels, as well as massaging front seats in the SEL Premium R-Line. Mountain Lake Blue and Avocado Green paint colors are new, and VW adds a SEL R-Line Black trim, which comes with black exterior accents.
2025 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport Pros and Cons
Pros
- Spacious cabin
- Upscale interior
- Better-looking Atlas
Cons
- Not very sporty
- Poor efficiency
- Frustrating capacitive controls
2025 Volkswagen ID4: What’s New
Every trim level of the ID4 electric SUV now comes with an almost-inch-larger 12.9-inch touchscreen, which models with the bigger battery got for 2024. This year also ushers in an available Black package for S and S Plus variants, which includes black side mirror caps, door handles, exterior branding, and 20-inch wheels. The S Plus grade picks up an auto-dimming side mirror on the driver side only.
2025 Volkswagen ID4 Pros and Cons
Pros
- Ride comfort
- Pleasant front seat cushioning
- Easy to drive
Cons
- Fussy touch controls
- Uninspiring driving dynamics
- Cabin materials could use some improvement
2025 Volkswagen SUVs:
2025 Volkswagen Taos: Significant update
2025 Volkswagen Tiguan: Redesigned
2025 Volkswagen Atlas: Minor update
2025 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport: Minor update
2025 Volkswagen ID4: Minor update
My dad was a do-it-yourselfer, which is where my interest in cars began. To save money, he used to service his own vehicles, and I often got sent to the garage to hold a flashlight or fetch a tool for him while he was on his back under a car. Those formative experiences activated and fostered a curiosity in Japanese automobiles because that’s all my Mexican immigrant folks owned then. For as far back as I can remember, my family always had Hondas and Toyotas. There was a Mazda and a Subaru in there, too, a Datsun as well. My dad loved their fuel efficiency and build quality, so that’s how he spent and still chooses to spend his vehicle budget. Then, like a lot of young men in Southern California, fast modified cars entered the picture in my late teens and early 20s. Back then my best bud and I occasionally got into inadvisable high-speed shenanigans in his Honda. Coincidentally, that same dear friend got me my first job in publishing, where I wrote and copy edited for action sports lifestyle magazines. It was my first “real job” post college, and it gave me the experience to move just a couple years later to Auto Sound & Security magazine, my first gig in the car enthusiast space. From there, I was extremely fortunate to land staff positions at some highly regarded tuner media brands: Honda Tuning, UrbanRacer.com, and Super Street. I see myself as a Honda guy, and that’s mostly what I’ve owned, though not that many—I’ve had one each Civic, Accord, and, currently, an Acura RSX Type S. I also had a fourth-gen Toyota pickup when I met my wife, with its bulletproof single-cam 22R inline-four, way before the brand started calling its trucks Tacoma and Tundra. I’m seriously in lust with the motorsport of drifting, partly because it reminds me of my boarding and BMX days, partly because it’s uncorked vehicle performance, and partly because it has Japanese roots. I’ve never been much of a car modifier, but my DC5 is lowered, has a few bolt-ons, and the ECU is re-flashed. I love being behind the wheel of most vehicles, whether that’s road tripping or circuit flogging, although a lifetime exposed to traffic in the greater L.A. area has dulled that passion some. And unlike my dear ol’ dad, I am not a DIYer, because frankly I break everything I touch.
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