Fourth Surprise SUV To Be Revealed In March: VW India Director

Volkswagen India is currently revamping its portfolio under the India 2.0 strategy. With SUVs under the spotlight, the manufacturer has laid out plans for three SUVs for India: T-ROC, Tiguan Allspace, and the upcoming highly localised Taigun. Now, brand director Ashish Gupta has told ZigWheels in our ‘Meet The Leaders’ series that a fourth surprise SUV would be revealed in March. 

We reckon this could be the facelifted Tiguan 5-seater, although Mr Gupta has said he won’t place his bets on it. VW has already begun testing the SUV undisguised in India. The upcoming model will be powered by a turbo-petrol engine, unlike the diesel in the pre-facelifted model. 

The new engine in question should be the 190PS/320Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol, as hinted by the ‘4Motion’ badge at the back of the test mule. VW provides the Tiguan 2.0-litre petrol in Europe with an AWD, but not the smaller 150PS 1.5-litre TSI petrol. All this has led us to believe that the new Tiguan could get a bigger engine, likely mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic. 

The facelifted Tiguan will feature more angular LED headlamps, new bumpers, alloy wheels, and slightly tweaked LED headlamps. It could also be the first VW model in India to sport the new two-dimensional logo.  

Save for the new steering wheel, touch-based climate control interface, and the digital driver’s display, the interior of the facelifted Tiguan will remain similar to that of the pre-facelift model. Other new features likely to be part of the package include connected car tech, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a wireless phone charger. 

Also Read: Volkswagen Virtus Spotted Testing In India

The upcoming Tiguan is likely to be priced from Rs 28 lakh (ex-showroom), putting it in the same league as the top-spec Jeep Compass Model S and Citroen C5 Aircross. It will be sold alongside the larger 7-seater Tiguan Allspace, which is powered by the same engine and retails from Rs 33.24 lakh (ex-showroom).