- VW claims the new narrow grille on the Taos gives it a more modern appearance.
- First seen on the Mk8 Golf, the slimline grille is now added to the Jetta and Tiguan.
- Upcoming VW models, including the US-spec Tiguan, will also feature this design update.
The facelifted VW Taos made its debut this week, bringing more equipment, a gutsier powertrain lineup and, most notably, a sleek, slimline grille that gives the whole car a radically different look to the model it replaces.
You might even say that with so much painted plastic coating the front end, VW seems to be trying to make its smallest American combustion EV look like its electric SUV, the ID.4. But VW says the real reason it ditched the big grille is to make the transverse light bar stand out better.
Related: 2025 VW Taos Arrives With Sleeker Face And More Power, Ditches DSG
“The designers needed to find a nice way to integrate the light bars… and previously on the Taos we just integrated it into the grille bar,” a VW spokesperson told us during a media briefing earlier this week.
“But what we heard [from customers] is that wasn’t very visual. People weren’t really seeing it when it wasn’t on.”
The revised Taos isn’t the first VW to feature a narrow grille opening. The Mk8 Golf that launched in 2020 introduced the design feature to combustion cars, copying the look of the ID.3 EV. And since then, other VWs including the new Jetta, ID.4 and ID.5, and European-spec Tiguan and Passat have joined the trend.
And it sounds like that trend is only going to grow stronger, because the Clint Eastwood moody stare chimes with buyers.
“In the past VW was really known for three chrome bars, but we’re moving away from that because customers want more modern designs,” the VW spokesperson explained. “And you will see that come in with all the new cars you’re going to see this year.”
Those cars include the new Tiguan, which this time won’t be a stretched take on Europe’s Tiguan, but a version of the Chinese Tayron SUV dressed with Tiguan badges. And in a strange twist, Europe will sell that same US Tiguan as a three-row addition to the entirely different five-seat Tiguan model launched earlier this year.
The same goes for the next-generation 2026 Atlas, which we showcased this week—courtesy of China’s MIIT, which couldn’t resist revealing photos of the new domestic market version, sold as the Terramont Pro. But don’t worry, it’s expected to be a carbon copy of the North American Atlas, just like the current Atlas and Terramont are basically twins separated by an ocean.
VW’s Design Rewind
This isn’t the first time VW has moved away from more traditional grille designs. While its early 1980s models like the Mk2 Golf, Jetta and Passat all came too late to adopt the flush nose ushered in by other automakers’ models like the Ford Sierra and Taurus, the B3 Passat launched in Europe in 1988 (and 1990 in America) had a smooth hood that appeared to extend right down to bumper level with the help of a body-color plastic filler panel between the lights.
That treatment gave the B3 Passat an almost air-cooled look, and with the new slim grilles, VW seems once again to be tipping a hat to its rear-engined past.
