The Volkswagen Touareg is the company’s large luxury crossover, and a very close relation to the Porsche Cayenne, but what does its name mean?
The Volkswagen Touareg is named after the Tuareg people who live in the Sahara desert. Typically nomads, the Tuareg, also spelt Twareg or Touareg, number between 2 and 2.5 million, and are the largest ethnic group living in the desert.
A majority of the Tuareg live in the parts of the Sahara located within Niger, Mali and Algeria.
The etymology of the name Tuareg is still disputed, but many believe that it means “inhabitant of Targa”. The Targa being the Tuareg name for the Libyan region known as Fezzan.
It’s not known how many, if any, Volkswagen Touaregs are owned by the Tuareg people.
