Would you spend over €60,000 on a Volkswagen? A year ago we'd have thought you were mad.
In fact, before last week we still would have had our doubts about your ability to manage anything more than pocket money.
Yet after a week behind the wheel of its new SUV, the Touareg, we are beginning to see the reasoning behind such spending. In its first foray into the 4x4 market, VW has managed to create a real solid competitor for the growing number of high-riding family runarounds. It's also impressively competent on the tougher off-road terrain.
The Touareg and flagship Phaeton represent a change in strategy. VW aims to be included with the likes of BMW, Mercedes, Lexus and sister firm Audi, for the premium end is where the real profits are these days. The Touareg is vital for VW as it will attract new customers to its showrooms.
Even the choice of names seems designed to lend itself to the new target market. Touareg, taking its name from a nomadic Saharan tribe, allows owners to talk long and loudly of their knowledge of the tribes of western Africa at dinner parties, and it's just hard enough to pronounce to intimidate the riff-raff. (It's pronounced "Twah-reg".)
However you want to say it, the Touareg is reportedly off to a strong sales start. Yet luxury is not coming to VW at any cost. Built in Slovakia with its lower labour costs, VW also shared development costs with another virgin to the SUV stage, Porsche.
Admittedly it's not the most likely partnership to spring to mind, particularly considering that if it's raw power VW was after, it only had to look within its own stable to find someone with a history for outrageously fast SUVs. (Anyone remember the Lamborghini LM range, the motoring equivalent of a warthog?)
However, while there's no corporate fraternity between the two, in yet another small world moment, former VW boss Ferdinand Piech, who did the deal, is also heir to the Porsche family fortune.
The Touareg's architecture is fundamentally the same as the Porsche Cayenne's, although interior trim, suspension set-up and engines are - for the time being - unique to each model.
Of course, the Touareg is targeted at George Dubya country, where SUVs are regarded as the ideal town runaround, California's version of our Ford Ka.
So how does the Touareg tackle the new upmarket task? Well, it's more expensive than the average VW, but sit inside and you begin to wonder if perhaps it isn't justifiably so. First impressions are of a well-built solid performer.
Ours was the entry-level specification on the 3.2-litre petrol version, yet we never felt like the poor relations. Certainly not with the keen V6, the same engine that powers the Golf R32, VW's 153 mph titan that, of course, is not on sale over here. The engine might not have rocketed us to 62 mph in 6 seconds, but it's no slouch.
The interior offers a real sense of the executive saloon, partly due to the beige trim, always the more elegant option if you can afford to get it properly valeted every now and again.
It also featured the standard steel springs, but for another €3,699 we could have got the air suspension. We previously drove the Cayenne with air suspension and found it to be far superior to the simple springs, particularly off-road. However, our Touareg was still more than capable, particularly on normal roads. There's no great yawing or leaning in corners, just saloon-like handling. The steering was also impressive, giving back plenty of information and not becoming light at motorway speed, a problem we've found with some of its competitors.
Other engines include a 4.2-litre V8 petrol and two diesels - a 2.5-litre turbodiesel, which will be the biggest seller here, and a five-litre V10, which on paper looks an absolute cracker though it's €100,705. That's just €4,000 short of the Porsche and deep in upmarket Range Rover territory, so VW might just suffer from vertigo at these heights.
Only the 2.5-litre comes with manual six-speed transmission, the rest featuring autoboxes. Standard off-road features include permanent four-wheel drive, a low-ratio gearbox, electronic traction control linked to an auto-locking centre differential, hill start and descent assist.
US car magazine, Car & Driver earlier this year rated the Touareg SUV of the year, citing its superior off-road performance and luxurious interior. That's a big bonus for a firm wishing to crack the US market. VW will also strengthen its off-road position if Touareg's entry in next year's Dakar Rally throws up a respectable finish.
For us, it handled small hills and slippy mud holes with aplomb and the low ratio gears still offered plenty of torque when called upon, though the grating metallic sound from the traction control system is quite disconcerting. There's a beautiful sense of the ridiculous about driving a car with beige interior across a muddy field; it's like heading for the national ploughing championships in a white Armani dress suit.
Of course off-road is not where the Touareg will spend its time. On the road is what's important and there it has a sense of ease and power delivery that, in its price bracket, is challenged only by BMW's X5.
For on-road driving, anti-lock brakes, electronic stabilisation programme, and brake assist system are also fitted as standard to each model. It also featured the usual list of safety gadgets and airbags, and superb brakes - all the more impressive given the fact it weighs in at over two tonne.
Perhaps the best test is how you feel behind the wheel when travelling becomes more than just a journey but an expedition. Late one night driving down the empty motorway with sheets of rain lashing against the Touareg, I still felt safe and somewhat cosy, with a good CD and cruise control keeping up the pace.
The discreet warm lighting from the dash and dials adds to the feel of luxury that one expects of a high-end German, though not previously VWs. The Touareg, for its size, is enjoyable to drive and the only place it really hurts is in the pocket. The 3.2-litre unit only managed 17 mpg for us.
Room for improvements? The central rear seat headrest turns the rearview mirror into nothing more than a vanity mirror, for you can't see a thing out the back window.
Then there's the annoying din from the seatbelt alert, and the space saver wheel in the back. It's one thing to drive a Panda on a space saver, quite another to navigate a two-tonne SUV.
So is it the best on the market for under €75,000? The X5 probably retains that title, but VW offers good value for money and would comfortably slot into second place. And, starting at €55,000 it will challenge the executive saloon set, so expect more SUVs in your office car park, much to the chagrin of the sandal wearers no doubt. But they had better get used to it, for Porsche is getting set to spice up this segment even more with a V6-powered Cayenne due in February and Audi is considering building its Pikes Peak.
For all its off-roading tools, the real mountain Touareg has to climb is the fearsome peak of public opinion, which may not relate VW with the premium end.
The move upmarket may seem to have a touch of the Don Quixote in it all. However, while we've yet to drive the Phaeton, with the Touareg VW hast a model that's competitive with all the long-standing players in the luxury market.
