Volkswagen India is planning to dominate the SUV market in India. The German carmaker had already launched two products this year, the Tiguan AllSpace 7-seater SUV and the T-ROC mid-sized premium SUV. Both the SUVs are premium offerings from Volkswagen and carry a hefty price tag. To appeal to the masses, Volkswagen has another arrow in its quiver, named the Taigun. Volkswagen has now revealed that they will launch the production-spec Taigun around mid-2021.
More details
What is worth noting here is that it will be joined by the Skoda Vision IN and the latter will be reaching the showrooms first, with Volkswagen following up with the Taigun pretty soon. With the Vision IN and Taigun, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India can finally begin to set their pieces in motion for their India 2.0 strategy.
Owning to localization, you can expect them to priced at par with the segment and given that they are SUVs with a premium badge at a reasonable price, they should do quite well in the market. Although the competition is quite tough, both the SUVs will be well kitted out with features to take the competition up to the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos.
Specifications
The Volkswagen Taigun crossover is actually the first product to be unveiled under the brand’s India 2.0 project. It will be based on the company’s localized MQB A0 IN platform. On the design front, the Volkswagen Taigun comes with a clean and simple design, which, along with the name looks a lot similar to that of the VW Tiguan. However, when we have a look at the rear end of the car, we can see a wider, stretched, and a refreshed look.
The Volkswagen Taigun mid-sized SUV is expected to arrive with two different engine options – a 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder turbocharged petrol, and a 1.5-litre TSI EVO engine. The new 1.0-litre turbo-petrol engine will also power VW’s other cars under the ‘India 2.0’ project. This engine produces up to 115bhp of power and 200Nm of torque, and we expect the transmission duties will be performed by a 6-speed manual and a 6-speed torque converter automatic.
Also read: Volkswagen Unveils The Performance-Focused 2021 Tiguan R
On the other hand, the 1.5-litre TSI EVO engine is borrowed from the VW T-ROC and the Skoda Karoq. This engine is capable of producing 148bhp of maximum power and 250Nm of peak torque, using a 7-speed DSG automatic. This powertrain has been programmed to use something which VW calls cylinder deactivation technology, which allows the engine to deactivate up to 2 cylinders, depending on the load on the engine. This helps the car in getting higher fuel efficiency and reduce pollution.