The Volkswagen Touran is a car manufactured by German automaker Volkswagen since 2003 and sold in Europe and other select markets. A compact multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), it fills a gap in Volkswagen's model lineup between the Volkswagen Golf, with which it shares its platform, and the Volkswagen Sharan, its larger counterpart, which ceased production in 2022. The vehicle has been sold in Japan as the Golf Touran and the crossover-styled variant as the CrossTouran. The name 'Touran' is derived from the combination of 'Tour' and 'Sharan'. Despite the similarity of their names, the Touran is not related to the North American market Volkswagen Routan. The vehicle is delivered in five or seven seat versions. First generation (Typ 1T; 2003) Announced back in August 2002, the Touran, whose production started in December 2002 and sales commenced in 2003, is the first Volkswagen MPV based on a Golf platform, more precisely the first vehicle on PQ35 platform. It joined Volkswagen's existing MPV line up that included the Sharan and Caravelle (Volkswagen Bus). It can be considered an extended version of the Golf Plus, since their front ends are similar in size, while the Touran's rear overhang is longer (and therefore a seven-seater, while the Golf Plus is a five seater). The Touran introduced electro-mechanical steering, a first in its class and for Volkswagen. It is able to vary the weight of the steering depending on the road speed. Due to the lack of energy consumption in idle it also improves the overall efficiency of the vehicle. The Touran was the first vehicle to use Volkswagen's 2.0 TDI engine. The engines available at the launch included a 1.6 FSI and two diesel engines, the 1.9 TDI with and the 2.0 TDI . The engines are EURO 4 compliant, except the 1.9 TDi when paired with the DSG (direct shift gearbox). The Touran launched with a six speed manual gearbox as standard, and a DSG for the 1.9 TDI Engines. Safety The initial test of the Touran in 2003, resulted in a four star rating for adult protection. Volkswagen made slight changes to the Touran from November 2003, adding "an intelligent reminder for the driver and front passenger to buckle their seat belts." This allowed the Touran to be retested the same year, scoring a single extra point, and so giving the car a five star rating for adult protection: Facelift (2006) The Touran