How Does The 2025 Volkswagen Taos Compare With The Competition

When it comes to small and efficient transportation, the 2025 Volkswagen Taos is hard to beat. Its smaller size is great for navigating the streets of Kansas City. It is also a superb shopping assistant for the grocery store. You can even take it on road trips down to the Ozarks with ease.  

How does it compare to its competitors? MotorTrend recently compared the Taos with the Hyundai Kona and Nissan Kicks to see which smaller SUV is the best in its class. To make it a fair comparison, each contender came with all-wheel drive in their top trim. In the case of the 2025 Taos, it was the SEL with 4MOTION.  

What advantages does Taos have over its competitors?  

Updated for 2025, the Taos received a bump in power by 19 horsepower. The 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine offers 174 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. All 2025 Taos models get an eight-speed automatic transmission, matched to either front- or 4MOTION all-wheel drive. The Taos SEL also returns 25 MPG in the city and 33 MPG on the highway, based on ratings by the Environmental Protection Agency. MotorTrend liked the Taos with its “good balance of power and fuel economy.” 

When it comes to exterior design, MotorTrend remarked that the 2025 Taos “looks like a family SUV that strapped on its hiking boots for an invigorating ramble.” Even with its sporty 19-inch alloy wheels, the Taos gives you a sense that you can take it anywhere.  

What really turned heads at MotorTrend was the interior space. “[t]he Taos is more comfortable for back-seat passengers and provides more usable cargo space. It’s more refined, and its interior design is more mature.” They also pointed out that the 2025 Taos “has nearly 2 inches more headroom than the Kona and the Kicks, but it feels like 2 feet.” 

Cargo space is also plentiful, with 24.9 cubic feet available with the rear seats up, expandable to 60.2 cubic feet with those seats folded down. MotorTrend reported that “our photographers had an easier time stowing their bulky gear into the Taos.” 

They also praised the IQ.DRIVE suite of driver assistance features. It gives you peace of mind through intuitive technologies developed to protect you from harm. With features such as Travel Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, and Emergency Assist, you can drive your 2025 Taos with confidence every time you take the wheel.  

In summary, MotorTrend said that “[o]verall, the Taos feels the most substantial and well engineered of the lot.” They added, “the updated Taos delivers more usability with a more upscale feel that’s worth a slightly higher car payment.” 

If the 2025 Taos of your choice for a smaller SUV, contact us at Bud Brown Volkswagen – your home of the Bud Brown Advantage Lifetime Limited Warranty.