Volkswagen Tiguan trio by 2017

Volkswagen plans to turn its second-generation Tiguan mid-size SUV into a new SUV sub-brand before the end of next year.

At a dinner last night in Lapland, in northern Sweden, Volkswagen's small car engineering boss Dr Jochen Böhle insisted the Wolfsburg-built Tiguan would spawn several new models within the Volkswagen family within two years.

"Our sales people are talking to create a family of Tiguans as a brand on its own inside the Volkswagen brand," Dr Böhle told journalists.

"We are not that far away from making a family out of it."

The small SUV will begin its growth with the stretched Tiguan XL, which has had an extra 110mm inserted into its wheelbase to push it out to 2791mm and allow Volkswagen to give it a third row of seating, too.

Then a Tiguan Coupe, which could be called Tiguan CC, will be added to the range.

The 'regular' Tiguan will arrive in Australia in the third quarter of 2016, and the company has previously confirmed the seven-seat Tiguan XL and Tiguan Coupe will also become available to Australian buyers. They will be rolled out at 12-month intervals, in late 2017 and late 2018 respectively.

"We are working on a [Tiguan] coupe which is looking really, really great," Dr Böhle said. "It's the same wheelbase as the Tiguan and has five doors, too.

"Dr Diess [VW CEO] is pushing the project hard. Strongly. It's a very exciting car and he's very strong on its development."

The Tiguan CC won't come with the Tiguan's optional off-road kit, which allows the ride height to be lifted in tricky situations because Volkswagen believes its buyer profile will have a comparatively strong on-road focus.

Volkswagen plans to save money and development time by building the SUV coupe on the same 2681mm wheelbase as the standard Tiguan and perhaps introducing a more powerful engine at the top of the line-up.

Volkswagen has sold 2.6 million Tiguans since its introduction in 2007, though it was criticised in the US for its lack of cargo capacity and it was expensively built in Germany.

While the standard Tiguan will remain German-built, there is no decision yet where the coupe might be made.

"In Wolfsburg there are good, experienced workers," Dr Böhle insisted. "Labour costs in Mexico are lower but the quality is higher in Germany.

"We have to look at the coupe volumes and whether Wolfsburg has the capacity to make it," he stated.