Tiguan brought forward

The burgeoning compact SUV segment is to offer buyers even more choice, via Volkswagen's Tiguan. And much sooner than expected!

Volkswagen Australia is believed to have renegotiated the timing of the local launch of the all-new softroader. Instead of the scheduled October 2008 arrival, the Tiguan is now set to arrive in some local dealerships as early as April, with the majority of VW Oz outlets stocked by May.

Such is the 'acceleration' of the expected Australian launch that local sources say VW Oz is still finalising the pricing, specification and model range details.

And while details of the Tiguan's model mix are therefore still up in the air, we understand that the local offer will include the more offroad-oriented Track&Field model. This is contrary to the information published in our international launch review.

That's good news for 'outdoorsy' types and there's further good news from inside Volkswagen with the advice that the exclusively all-wheel-drive Tiguan range will feature a choice of engines -- expected to be the 2.0-litre TDI turbodiesel, 2.0-litre FSI petrol and the Golf GTI's 147kW 2.0-TFSI.

It's unlikely all the engines will be available for the expected April/May launch, however.

While the early arrival of the VW will set the cat among the softroader pigeons, the pricing of the semi-premium Euro SUV will cause even more waves. We believe the Tiguan range will start from below $35,000 -- more than competitive with the established names in the segment.