Cars keep growing with each generation that passes but parking spots are not necessarily getting any bigger, are they? SUVs are the worst offenders, and they're consequently harder to live with in a crowded city, yet this segment of the market continues to rise. The Volkswagen Touareg is far from being the largest sport utility vehicle out there, especially by North American standards, but at 1984 millimeters (78.1 inches) wide, it's not small either.
The third generation of Wolfsburg's posh SUV received a mid-cycle facelift earlier this month, so naturally, VW has decided to show it off in a new ad. It should be mentioned remote parking has been available on the Touareg for a few years, so this commercial isn't really showing a new feature. The German mainstream automaker wasn't the first to bring it to the market as Hyundai and Kia models have been offering this functionality before VW.
2024 Volkswagen Touareg
To highlight the benefits of having the optional Park Assist Pro, the ad shows the owner of a 2024 Touareg using his smartphone to remotely control the SUV. We can see him extracting the vehicle from a parking spot where it was sandwiched between an Audi TTS and an A4. That's bad business for the laundry shop across the street as the owners had clients coming in after getting their clothes dirty while trying to get inside their cars.
The people who owned the TTS and A4 were less fortunate as the man driving the coupe got his nice suit dirty because of the muddy first-gen Amarok V6 TDI pickup truck nearby. As for the lady with the sedan, she spilled her drink. Naturally, all the other cars in the nearby parking spaces are also from the Volkswagen Group, including a seventh-gen Golf in what appears to be the spicy R flavor along with a current RS3 Sedan.
Moral of the story? The remote control function is more than just a gimmick since it can help you get out of a tight spot. However, had it been a regular car, Park Assist Pro wouldn't have been necessary.
