The new and long-awaited Volkswagen Tiguan has a bit of sticker shock when it comes to price, but it is surprisingly capable
Stories of the Volkswagen Tiguan coming to India have been doing the rounds in the Indian media for over five years, and Volkswagen as a brand has only been around in India for about eight years. This mid-sized SUV was believed to be a way for Volkswagen to crack open the market in this appealing segment. But the first-generation Tiguan, a best-seller in China and Russia, never did make it to India.
The second-generation Tiguan, however, was recently launched by the German carmaker and is the first SUV to use the Volkswagen Group’s new MQB platform in India which is also on the Audi A3 and Skoda Octavia. Platform commonality and the fact that all three cars share the same two-litre A189 turbodiesel engine helps keep development and manufacturing costs lower. But essentially the MQB platform highlights just how important the Golf is Volkswagen DNA, but that is a story for another column.
Volkswagen India organised a lovely drive from Bengaluru Airport to the coffee-estate hill-station of Chikmagalur on the Western Ghats. This 250-km drive each way gave us motor-noters the opportunity to experience the Tiguan in Bengaluru’s urban jungle, on the brilliant (but deadly) NH44 between Karnataka’s capital and Hassan as well as the beautiful roads of the southern range of the Western Ghats. Although the drive back was sadly punctuated by a collision with a dog on the highway, the drive did let us experience the car.
First things first, in terms of price and size, the Tiguan being a large two-row SUV competes against the Hyundai Tucson. While both specifications of the Tiguan feature a modern infotainment system and lED headlights, the top-spec Highline variant we drove had the addition of a panoramic sunroof, lED taillights, larger wheels and a reversing camera. The Highline spec also has an interesting concept with “self-sealing” Hankook tyres. While we did not get to experience how these work, the system has a jelly coating the inside of the tyre which seals small punctures immediately and unlike “run flat” tyres are not written off.
The Tiguan has excellent interiors, even though they would be familiar to any Volkswagen and Audi owner. The quality to the trim, from the seat fabrics to the plastics, is brilliant. If there is one minor quibble, it is that the storage box on the top of the dashboard will not close if paper (say from a toll receipt) gets stuck in it. Rear seat legroom is more than adequate, indeed it feels and it is larger than the current Audi Q3, a vehicle the Tiguan will invariably be compared against because they are stablemates. That said, the current Q3 is based on an older platform, but a new-generation Q3 is due next year.
The Tiguan’s biggest score over its rivals, and Volkswagen’s marketing department does not include the Tucson here (but we do) along with base models of the Mercedes-Benz GlA, BMW X1 and Audi Q3 (also not included by VW in the competitors list) is that both specification levels feature a smart terrain management system as well as Volkswagen’s “4Motion” all-wheel drive system. In most driving conditions, the Tiguan is a front-wheel drive vehicle but get stuck in a bit of mud, as we did while taking the car for a shoot, and the system kicks in, transferring power to the rear wheels as well to get you out of tightest spots.
Could Volkswagen India have launched a base version sans this systemIJ Sure, they could have but experience from sales of SUVs such as the Ford Endeavour and Toyota Fortuner indicate that a majority of buyers when presented the choice of a four-wheel drive model tend to choose that. Couple that with the brilliant seven-speed DSG gearbox (with a paddle shifter) and the lED headlights, you can understand the rationale behind the Rs 28 lakh price for the Comfortline and Rs 31.4 lakh price of the Highline variant. Keep in mind that the top-spec Hyundai Tucson costs Rs 25 lakh. All these prices are ex-showroom Delhi. Volkswagen India has really loaded the Tiguan with toys.
And it is a fun car to drive. The A189 engine is in the 143 horsepower state of tune like on the Audi A3 and Skoda Octavia, and much like those two cars is stunningly frugal. Drive the Tiguan sensibly and you could easily stretch the 65-litre fuel tank to a range of over 800 km. But when you want you do always have enough power on tap. The car is, however, best driven at highway cruising speeds. In the hills, the Tiguan handles superbly on the twisting roads and it rode over the few bad patches and frequent speed-breakers easily.
All in all, the Tiguan is an excellent package. Yes, it is expensive with top-spec Toyota Fortuner and Ford Endeavour costing less than 20 per cent more. But you don’t always want or need a bigger car, and this is indeed a class-leading vehicle. It has to be admitted that the bigger problem that the Tiguan faces is against its German luxury rivals. Sure they all cost more, and they have fewer features by a longshot — I mean an all-wheel drive system and a panoramic sunroof for under forty lakhsIJ But the Tiguan does not have badge value, and as such only an “evolved” buyer who cares more for the feature set rather than the badge on the grille would buy one.
One note about National Highway 44 that connects Bengaluru and Mangaluru, it is like many highways across India much improved. The road surface is brilliant and the National Highways Authority of India has to be congratulated for that. Also in the southern states, people are definitely more mindful and I did not notice a single truck on the wrong side of the road, although there was the odd motorcyclist. However, I did notice far too many accidents on the highway, all of them recent with one involving fatalities.
This is in part due to far higher highways speeds than a decade ago thanks to better highways, but as I also learnt personally, there is a massive problem with animals on the highway when a dog jumped in front of the Tiguan I was driving from the central verge. Of course at highway speeds, there was no option but to hit the dog.
While damage to the car was repairable, the damage to my conscience will take some time to heal although I know I had no options. Swerving or braking to avoid an animal on a highway could lead to a worse accident, from turning turtle to being rear-ended by a truck. There is a nationwide problem with feral dogs that needs to be addressed but I was grateful that I hit a small animal and not something like cattle which would have damaged the car severely and in a small car possible have been fatal. In a country where road fatalities should become a national emergency and one where some members of the citizenry consider the lives of animals above that of their fellow human, we do need to realise that we have a severe problem on our hands.