Volkswagen updated its subcompact Taos for 2025. Giving it a new look, more power, and updated tech inside. It’s still VW’s closest to a base Golf offering.

Volkswagen introduced the United States market to the Taos in 2022. And in this highly competitive segment, it’s already time for an update. Volkswagen tweaked the styling—focusing most of the effort on the front fascia—pumped up the powertrain and updated the tech inside.

But it’s still, essentially, the subcompact crossover SUV replacement for the Volkswagen Golf hatchback. Yes, we still have the GTI and the Golf R, but VW last sold the Golf in the U.S. in 2021. For us enthusiasts, that stings a little. But, as crossovers go, the Taos possesses a bit of Golf energy, and these updates only look to strengthen that connection.

STYLING

The new look of the front-end comes courtesy of a new bumper design, grille, and LED projector headlights. Volkswagen also offers an optional light bar. Similar to what happened with the larger Atlas, the Taos taillights connect to each other in the middle and illuminate the VW badge, too.

Volkswagen continues to offer four trims of Taos. The base S rolls on 17-inch alloy wheels, the next level up, SE, sees 18s bolted up instead. Fittingly, the SEL carries 19-inch wheels down the road. Finally, the SE Black trim, which VW added in 2024, gets 18s for front-wheel-drive versions and 19s for all-wheel-drive.

POWERTRAIN

Under the hood, engineers fiddled and fussed with the turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four-cylinder engine to boost peak output to 174 horsepower, up 16 from the original. Moreover, if you get all-wheel-drive, you also get an eight-speed automatic transmission, VW chucked the seven-speed dual-clutch unit to the bin.

INSIDE

In the cabin, the center display measures 8-inches across all trim levels. And it lies on a new dashboard design. Volkswagen also played with materials and colors to keep the look fresh. The base S trim still uses cloth to wrap the seats, the SEL gets leather, and the SE trims have a material called CloudTex.

Engineers also worked to reduce noise vibration and harshness (NVH) with what they call “new acoustic dampening treatments.” I presume that means thicker padding in key places. Anything that helps keeps out the cacophony of the outside world suit me fine.

CONCLUSION

With a bit more power and a few years’ worth of continued development, I also hope that the vehicle dynamics folks continued to polish up the ride and handling side of the Taos. Not that I disliked it during my review of the 2022 model, but I welcome any further refinement that claws out just a bit more driving pleasure. A bit more power can’t hurt, either.

Volkswagen says to expect the 2025 Taos to hit dealerships by the end of this year and that they will announce pricing approaching that date. Based on these improvements, I only expect incremental increases to the 2024 Taos’ $25,420 base price. And, once I get the chance, I look forward to test how well it drives.