New VW Tiguan to double sales

Volkswagen expects its second-generation Tiguan to be twice as popular as before in Australia, making it one of the nation's top-selling small/medium SUVs when it arrives here within 12 months.

That's because there will be a trio of Tiguan models to replace the single original first released here in 2008, and all three of them have been confirmed for Australia's booming compact SUV market, which is has grown by another third this year.

As we've reported, the new Tiguan five-seater – previewed by the plug-in hybrid Tiguan GTE concept at last month's Frankfurt motor show -- will go on sale here by the end of next year, followed a year later by the first long-wheelbase seven-seat version and six months later by the first Tiguan 'coupe'.

"The new Tiguan will be introduced right around this time next year -- the car we showed at Frankfurt which is what we're calling the normal wheelbase car," Volkswagen Group Australia managing director John White told motoring.com.au yesterday.

"It will be followed by the longer wheelbase car which is still going to be called the Tiguan but will have seven seats as standard. That will come out about a year later.

"Then in early 2018 we'll have the Tiguan Coupe or CC. We're not exactly what we're calling it, but at this stage it's called the Tiguan Coupe.

"So we've got three derivatives nicely sequenced in 2016, 17 and 18."

Asked about the sales potential of the three-model MkII Tiguan range compared to the outgoing model, White said: "Double, for two reasons.

"There are three derivatives and the [SUV] segment is expanding. So that's really a great opportunity for us to be there."

So far this year the Tiguan has found 5182 Australian homes -- up 1.8 per cent year on year in a small SUV segment that expanded by 30 per cent in the same period.

If the new Tiguan remains classified as a small SUV and reaches its sales target, it will be one of the top-sellers in its segment, which is dominated by the Hyundai ix35 (13,910 sales YTD, but now replaced by the mid-size Tucson), Mitsubishi ASX (9280), Mazda CX-3 (8612), Honda HR-V (8158) and Nissan QASHQAI (7882).

If it's classed as a mid-size SUV and doubles its predecessor's sales it would play second fiddle only to Mazda's CX-5 (19,013 sales YTD), Toyota RAV (13,782) and Nissan X-TRAIL (12,900), outselling the likes of the Subaru Forester, Mitsubishi Outlander and Honda CR-V.

The Tiguan GTE concept was powered by a 160kW 1.4-litre turbo-petrol plug-in hybrid powertrain augmented by roof-mounted solar panels that VW said can add up to 1000km of driving per year.

Due on sale a year after the conventionally powered versions of the MkII Tiguan, the PHEV's electric motor is powered by a 13kWh lithium-ion battery pack that allows 50km of emissions-free driving, a top speed of 200km/h, average fuel consumption of just 1.9L/100km and CO2 emissions of only 42g/km.

While the plug-in version is doubtful for Australia, the concept was shown alongside normal, off-road and R Line versions of the new Tiguan, which will be available with eight engines in Europe: four TSI turbo-petrol units developing between 92kW and 162kW and four TDI turbo-diesel or TDI offering between 85kW and 176kW.

VW claims the new Tiguan, which will again be available with front- and all-wheel drive options, will offer a braked towing capacity of up to 2500kg and 11mm more ground clearance at 200mm.

Manual and dual-clutch automatic gearboxes will of course be offered, and smartphone integration via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will be standard for Australian cars, although new features like autonomous emergency braking (AEB), pedestrian monitoring and lane keeping assistance may not be.

Based on VW's MQB platform, the new model is 60mm longer and 30mm wider and, depending on the model, up to 50kg has been shaved from its kerb weight. A 77mm longer wheelbase (now 2681mm) improves rear seat leg room, but a 33mm lower roof may impinge on head room.

One of the current Tiguan's biggest issues -- lack of boot space -- has been addressed via an extra 145 litres of cargo capacity. It now offers 615 litres of space and up to 1665 litres with the rear seats folded.

While VW has sold more three million Tiguans since its launch seven years ago, it continues to investigate the introduction of a smaller SUV based on the T-ROC concept, which could enter production in 2017 and has already received strong backing from VGA.

"It's a hole in our line-up," admitted White of a sub-compact VW SUV.

"The sub-compact SUV market as demonstrated with the CX-3 and the HR-V have shown there's a big space for that.

"We've shown a concept car but that concept car has not yet been confirmed. We've put our hand up and said we'd like it. but it's not confirmed yet but if it comes we want it.

"I think it's very important that segment. Clearly our strategy is expanding the SUV line-up," said White at this week's launch of the new Passat.

Other major model launches coming for VGA will be the facelifted Caddy and new T6 Transporter next month, followed by the Passat Alltrack in the first quarter of 2016.