DETROIT MOTOR SHOW: New VW SUV for Detroit debut
Volkswagen to release all-new seven-seat SUV as early as JanuaryVolkswagen will unveil a concept for an all-new three-row SUV as early as the 2013 Detroit motor show in just six weeks, according to reports from this week’s Los Angeles motor show.
Rumours of a brand-new seven-seat SUV to slot between the German giant’s Tiguan and Touareg models have been circulating for some time, but now Autoblog has reported Volkswagen Group Head of Design Klaus Bischoff as confirming a concept for just such a vehicle will “most hopefully” be revealed at Detroit in January.
Volkswagen Group Australia says an additional SUV model is not on its product planning horizon, meaning that a production version is at least three years away.
However, the booming SUV market both globally and in Australia would seem to support a move to fill the yawning gap between the compact Tiguan and large Touareg in Volkswagen’s SUV line-up.
Locally, the Tiguan spans $28,490 (1.4 TSI 2WD) and $42,990 (2.0 TSI AWD), while the latest-generation Touareg luxury SUV sells for between $62,990 and $83,990.
While the full-size Touareg still only offers five seats, the as yet unnamed VW SUV would be both larger and cheaper – a stretched, three-row Tiguan, in effect.
According to Autoblog, Mr Bischoff made it clear during a small media roundtable that the new seven-seater will be a an SUV rather than a crossover, indicating it will be a high-riding all-wheel drive, rather than a low-slung front-drive people-mover.
He added that its off-road capability will be “not as strong as the Touareg, but more than good enough to compete... It's an SUV in the European way – in the Volkswagen way.”
That rules out a hard-core body-on-frame off-roader based on the ladder chassis of the Amarok utility.
Motoring understands Skoda is well down the path to developing its first seven-seat SUV and it’s unlikely the VW Group brands would develop completely separate three-row SUV offerings.
If the report proves correct, then a Detroit reveal will show whether VW or Skoda takes the lead on the SUV project, but either way the new model is expected to be based on the VW Group’s new modular MQB platform, which will soon form the basis of all group models between the Golf/A3 and Passat/Octavia.
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