VW Taigun

Near production-ready 4.2 metres length 1.0 and 1.5 TSI engines No diesel

GROUP NIGHTS WERE A BIG THING for the Volkswagen Group, a massive show of strength the night before major auto shows at Geneva, Frankfurt and Paris, where every single one of the Group’s brands, from an even faster and rarer hyperperformance Bugatti to bikes from Ducati and even MAN trucks, rolled out on stage in a light, sound and (in the case of Lamborghini) extravagance of fury, that could give Broadway a run for its money. A similar concept was recreated for the first time in India prior to the Expo, bringing together all five brands operating here, but the highlight was of course the kick-off of India 2.0.

Unlike Skoda that elected to showcase a concept, Volkswagen had the production ready SUV with the name that it will sport when it hits showrooms – Taigun. The latter obviously ties in with their global SUV line-up: Tiguan, Touareg, T-Roc and T-Cross. In fact Volkswagen in India will now focus particularly heavily on SUVs (they’ve even got a hashtag for it, #SUVW) with four new SUVs expected to be launched in the next two years including the all-electric I.D. Crozz.

Visually, the Taigun shares much of its design with the T-Cross that is not only the smallest SUV in the global line-up but one that is slated to be the best-selling. Where the Vision IN is funky and sporty, the Taigun is mature with the typically strong VW lines that tend not to age very fast – witness the decade-old Polo that still manages to look good. However, keeping Indian tastes in mind there is heavy chrome detailing on the grille, a gaping air-dam with silver-finished inserts, prominent and chunky skid plates front and rear, and a full-width light bar on the hatch with the new VW roundel at the centre. This is exactly what the production car will look like, save for the wheel size reduced from 19 to a more sensible 17 inches.

The Taigun is around 100mm longer in the wheelbase compared to the T-Cross and at 4.2 metres is just slightly shorter overall than the

Seltos. Sitting inside the Taigun it felt slightly less accommodating in terms of rear knee room and appreciably narrower in terms of shoulder room. The cabin though is funky in terms of its styling with body-coloured panels, a digital instrument cluster, large 8.0-inch touchscreen and connected tech.

Like the Vision IN, the base engine will be the locally-manufactured 1.0 TSI that will debut this April on the Polo, Vento and Rapid. There will also be a Taigun GT with the 1.5 TSI engine, to ride on the popularity of the current Polo GT. No diesels will be offered and the DSG will only be on the 1.5.

VW have clearly indicated that the Taigun will slot in between compact- and mid-size SUVs and the targeted 92-95 per cent localisation of the MQB-A0-IN will help to price it there. VW India head, Steffen Knapp, told us the pricing will target lower variants of the Creta – and that’s important if VW and Skoda are to hit their joint market share target of 5 per cent by 2025.

VW WILL LAUNCH FOUR NEW SUVS OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS