You can expect a world unveil next year but sales will not start until 2021.

Rumours of a TouaregR have circulated on the Internet for a while. However, Volkswagen has just announced a high-performance version its flagship SUV. According to Jurgen Stackmann, the company’s sales manager and marketing chief, the plot twist is the decision to install a plug in hybrid powertrain. Stackmann spoke to Autocar just before the world premiere for the Golf 8. He said that the company’s “R” portfolio would expand next year with “some Rs,” while the Wolfsburg folks have already announced the Golf R will be available in 2020.

It’s likely that the Touareg will debut in its spicy R flavor next year. However, it is unlikely to be available before 2021. The “R” treatment won’t be exclusive to this large SUV. In fact, the German automaker also sold the facelifted version of the first-gen Touareg in an HTML50 guise with its massive 5.0-liter V10 Diesel. It was rated at 345 horsepower and 627 pounds-feet (6850 Newton-meters of torque), which is still lower than the Touareg V8 diesel’s 4.0-liter engine rated at 416 HP (310 kW) e 664 lb.ft (900 Nm).The next Touareg R will also have a diesel engine. It seems unlikely, as a 2.0-liter gasoline engine four pot working in conjunction with an electric motor is more likely. VW already owns an electrified SUV and will soon bring it to Europe. It has a combined output power of 362 horsepower and 516 lbft (700 Nm). The R model could have 400 horsepower, with a modified version of the combustion engine.

VW acknowledged a few years ago that it was working on a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 engine to power a possible ArteonR with just over 400 horsepower. Yet, you won’t be able to find one at your local dealer. We think that the engine would be a good fit for the Touareg, but we don’t want to get too excited.

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Stackmann denied that a Touareg R fully electric is possible, but he said more R-badged VWs with electrified badges are on the horizon.