New Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace to start around $40K

Volkswagen’s first seven-seat SUV, the ‘5+2’ Tiguan Allspace, will go on sale in Australia in July with a starting price of around $40,000 plus on-road costs.

That’s about $8000 more expensive than the cheapest short-wheelbase five-seat Tiguan you can buy now, reflecting the fact the Allspace will not be offered in the entry-level Trendline specification.

Instead, it gets an equipment bump and – obviously – more space and seats thanks to its 109mm wheelbase and 215mm overall length stretch.

As we reported here last month, the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace will be available in two equipment specifications in Australia, Comfortline and Highline, and with all five drivetrain choices (three petrol, two diesel) currently offered by the popular second-generation Tiguan.

The dollar bump for an equivalent-spec Comfortline or Highline Allspace compared to Tiguan is expected to be about $3000, although Volkswagen Australia won’t be confirming pricing until closer to the launch.

That puts Allspace in a rough spread between $40,000 and $54,000 (before adding option packs such as R-Line to Highline).

Standard equipment the Allspace gets over the short-wheelbase Tiguan includes dynamic LED headlights across the range (Comfortline Tiguan gets halogens), a power tailgate (optional for Comfortline Tiguan) and a safety package standard on Highline Allspace that is optional on the equivalent Tiguan.

There’s also some distinct Allspace styling flourishes including a bluffer bonnet lip, silver exterior mirror housings and the longer rear door required by the wheelbase stretch.

The Allspace is the third model in VW’s SUV line-up alongside the Tiguan and Touareg. An all-new Touareg luxury five-seater arrives by mid-2019 and VW Australia is hopeful the T-Cross small SUV will be here before the end of 2019. Plans to produce the first seven-seat Touareg have apparently been at least delayed.

The T-Roc crossover remains on the wish list, as does the large US-built Atlas seven-seat crossover.

Volkswagen Australia is bullish about the prospects of the Allspace, which it believes can sell at roughly 50 per cent of the rate of the Tiguan, with most sales being incremental.

Based on 2017 results, that means about 5000 Allspaces could go out the door of VW dealerships in a full year.

“Excluding our van-derived vehicles, this is the first seven-seat Volkswagen passenger vehicle in Australia,” explained VW product manager Todd Ford.

“It’s something we have long waited and for and something we are very excited about it. There is significant demand from our customers for this vehicle.

“People might rarely use the seven seats but they want to know they have the functionality there for their kids’ friends. But the real value is the everyday useable space, with 700 litres of storage (with row three folded).”

Ford was speaking at a sneak-peek preview of the Allspace in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda yesterday, close to the site of The Block TV show, which VW sponsors.

VW has flown in a top-spec Allspace 162TSI Highline R-Line for show filming and motoring.com.au got a brief drive of the car – watch out for our review.

European correspondent Michael Taylor has also driven the Allspace and you can read his assessment here.

The Allspace will start its pricing lower and finish higher than its non-identical twin and in-house rival, the Skoda Kodiaq, which shares the same clever interior seating system. However, the Kodiaq starts with a 132kW turbo-petrol engine, all-wheel drive and seven-speed DSG auto.

The cheapest Allspace will come with a 110kW turbo-petrol engine, front-wheel drive and a six-speed DSG transmission.

Other rivals for the Allspace nominated by VW include the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Kia Sorento.

“It really competes with the Koreans, it has the same wheelbase as the Santa Fe,” said Ford. “But we are not pretending it’s a full-size seven-seater, the third-row seats are occasional.”

Ford confirmed there was the prospect for the Allspace line-up to add special edition models down the track, in the same way the Tiguan has offered Sportline and Adventure editions.

VW expects the Allspace Highline to outsell Comfortline and petrol engines to dominate over diesel in the sales mix, with the 132TSI 2.0-litre to be the most popular choice.