Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace due early 2018

Volkswagen Australia has confirmed a seven-seat version of the Tiguan SUV, to be called the Allspace, will land in local showrooms from early 2018.

Speaking with media this week, stakeholders said the new model will be officially named the Tiguan Allspace and will be fitted as standard with seven seats.

“This car was shown earlier this year and we plan to have it on sale in the first half of 2018,” a Volkswagen Australia spokesman said.

“We’ll offer a pretty comprehensive range in this car, pretty similar to the Tiguan that’s currently on sale at the moment. As a point of difference to the current car, it will have seven seats as standard.

"We expect the Allspace will be classified as a large SUV under the [official] classification.”

Volkswagen says the Allspace range will be reflective of the current Tiguan, including a wide choice of petrol and diesel engines.

The new model features a wheelbase that is stretched by 110mm, to 2790mm overall.

In the UK market the Tiguan Allspace commands a premium over the standard-wheelbase SUV of around $5000.  This is expected to be close to the premium applied in Australia, which would make the local starting price around $37,000 – undercutting popular large SUVs like the Toyota Kluger and Hyundai Santa Fe.

VW Australia chief Michael Bartsch this week identified SUVs as the “biggest opportunity” for growth in Australia. He believes the Tiguan Allspace will be a key conduit in improving SUVs sales, and also expressed interest in two different new small SUVs similar in size to Mazda’s CX-3, to come underneath the Tiguan, while a 'Coupe' version of the Tiguan is also expected.

As we've reported, VW Australia hasn't lost hope of a right-hand-drive version of the US-oriented Atlas either, and VW is also developing a seven-seat wagon version of the next-generation Amarok ute, meaning that in addition to next year's Tiguan Allspace and new Touareg, the German car-maker could offer up to four seven-seat SUVs within a few years.