Volkswagen didn’t do much to the Taos for 2024. As is happening with quite a few models among various automakers, VW’s using 2024 as a holdover year for the Taos while it prepares a refreshed version in 2025. And as inducement to buyers not to wait for the 2025 model, VW launched an evergreen and endlessly popular Black Package for the mid-level SE trim. The explanatory materials say it “accents the bold exterior styling of Taos with black wheels, a black roof, darkened exterior design elements, and projector headlights with an illuminated front grille.” Inside, buyers will find the usual smattering of glossy black trim, paired with blue stitching. Pricing starts at $30,365 for the SE Black in front-wheel-drive guise before the $1,425 destination fee, which comes out to $31,790. Getting power to the rear axle means paying $33,440 for the SE Black 4Motion.
The package isn’t on the Taos configurator at VW’s retail site at the time of writing. As far as we can tell, the package adds $2,200 to the price of the FWD trim, $2,400 to the price of the AWD trim, with $395 of the premiums being the black wheels that are available on the configurator. Speaking of which, the above Taos is the closest we could get to the SE Black using the configurator; the real model should be even blacker, depending on the exterior color chosen.
VW didn’t do much else to the range. The IQ.Drive driver assistance package is now standard on every Taos, bringing adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist to even the base Taos S. That trim level also picks up a standard heated leatherette steering wheel and rain-sensing wipers. And the SE trim level picks up dual-zone automatic climate control.
While a VW press release might be the only place one finds this specific “Taos” and “bold” in the same sentence, the mini Atlas still one of our top-recommended SUVs and is doing some gutsy relatively numbers on the sales sheet. A few cars practically own this crossover space, the Subaru Crosstrek and Bronco Sport both doing well over 100,000 units apiece in the U.S. last year. Below those, the Chevrolet Trailblazer, Hyundai Kona, Jeep Compass, and Mazda CX-30 live in the red zone near 100,000 units. The Taos has been on sale three years in the U.S., going from nearly 32,000 units in 2021 to 50,371 units in 2022 and 58,890 units last year. That’s a nice little sales curve keeping the Taos just behind the Kia Seltos and its 60,053 sales in the U.S., and everyone’s ahead of the fading Jeep Renegade that did just 26,012 sales last year.
