Volkswagen recently unveiled the Taigun and we got to spend some time with it too. Needless to say, it is a very important product that is going to play a key role in VW’s SUV offensive planned for India. Spending some time with it revealed that it is indeed going to be a tough nut to crack and it is about time that its rivals started devising strategies to deal with it. In an interesting turn of events, a left-hand-drive Volkswagen Taigun was recently spotted testing on the Mumbai-Satara stretch.
What’s cooking?
There could be multiple reasons behind this. The first and foremost being that it will be exported to other markets from our market.
VW India’s Pune plant could be prepping to export the car under T-Cross branding to LHD emerging markets, and this is one example out of the trial production lot. For the uninitiated, the Taigun is a derivative of T-Cross which is on sale in other international markets. Volkswagen could also be using the LHD T-Cross as a powertrain test-bed for final fine-tuning activities ahead of launch.
Looks
In terms of design, the typical VW lines are hard to miss. The front features a solid, squared-off fascia with sharp creases on the bonnet. The grille houses 3 horizontal slats and is flanked by headlights which are an all-LED unit, on either side. From the sides, it will remind you of the Kushaq a slight bit.
It glides on 17” alloys from Goodyear rubber. To further enhance the SUV stance, the Taigun features black body cladding on the sides. On the rear, the main highlight is indeed the connected LED light strip that runs across in addition to C-shaped lovely looking taillights. This car also features the new VW logo.
Specs
In terms of the mechanicals, the Taigun draws power from a choice of 2 turbo-petrol engine. Firstly, a 1.0L, 3cyl turbo-petrol TSI engine that will deliver 115PS of peak power and 175Nm of peak torque which also does duties on the polo, rapid and the Vento, and will be mated to a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed torque converter unit.
Secondly, a 1.5L, 4cyl TSI turbo petrol engine that puts out 150PS of peak power and 250Nm of peak torque, which also sits under the hood of the T-Roc. This is mated to a 6-speed MT or a 7-speed DCT gearbox as standard. Both these engines will also sit under the hood of the Skoda Kushaq.