AJC CAR NEWS
VW unveils Tiguan, its compact SUV crossover
Tiguan seats five, handles well, costs much more than the competition
San Antonio Express-News
Saturday, December 06, 2008
New for 2009 is Volkswagen’s first compact sport utility, called the Tiguan.
Although VW officially refers to the Tiguan as an SUV, it’s technically a crossover, as it has unibody construction and is built on the chassis of the current Jetta/Golf/Rabbit compacts.
Adam Berry / Bloomberg News
A worker prepares to drive a Volkswagen Tiguan off the assembly line after inspection at the factory in Wolfsburg, Germany. The Tiguan is more expensive than its compact competitors, but it’s a bargain compared to VW’s Touareg. Plus, the Tiguan has nice acceleration for a small crossover, going zero to 60 in 7.9 seconds.
Intended to compete against models such as the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V and Mitsubishi Outlander, the Tiguan seats five and comes with a 200-horsepower four-cylinder engine and either front- or all-wheel drive.
It joins the larger and much more expensive Touareg as the second SUV in the VW lineup, and gives Volkswagen’s U.S. dealers a somewhat affordable sport utility.
The Tiguan, though, is a bit more expensive than its competitors, with base prices ranging from $23,200 to $32,940 (plus $690 freight). The RAV4, for instance, begins at $21,500 and tops out just under $28,000, and the Outlander starts under $20,000 and only goes as high as $25,210.
But compared with the Touareg, the Tiguan is quite a bargain. The larger VW sport utility ranges from $39,300 to $68,340, and still has room for only five passengers. The $68,340 Touareg is the diesel version.
The Tiguan’s engine is so noisy, though, that when I drove the vehicle for the first time, I thought it was a diesel. But even though Volkswagen now offers a diesel in the Jetta sedan and wagon in the U.S. market, that engine is not available in the Tiguan.
Volkswagen says the extra cost of the Tiguan over its competitors is justified because it’s intended to be more rugged and durable and to offer a more exciting driving experience, one of the hallmarks of VW vehicles.
But putting these extra-cost “qualities” in Volkswagen vehicles, then setting their prices well above the competition is a policy that has turned VW into a niche marketer in the United States.
Continuing this policy with the Tiguan probably won’t help Volkswagen much in its goal to boost its U.S. sales to 800,000 vehicles a year by 2018 vs. the 230,000 the company sold here during 2007.
Yes, some people perceive the company’s vehicles to be worth more than their competitors’ corresponding models. But not enough consumers feel that way to make Volkswagens into popular gotta-have cars that set sales records, such as the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, which far outsell the VW Passat sedan.
Still, the Tiguan does offer some attributes that aren’t as clear in crossovers such as the RAV4 and CR-V, such as crisp steering, sure handling and highly responsive braking.
The Tiguan has decent acceleration for a small crossover, as well, with a zero-to-60-mph time of 7.9 seconds. It has a factory limited top speed of 129 mph (governed for the U.S. market because we don’t have an Autobahn here).
Three trim levels are offered: the base S ($23,200), midlevel SE ($26,925 with front drive and $28,875 with the 4Motion all-wheel-drive system) and the top-of-the-line SEL ($30,990 with front drive; $32,940 with 4Motion).
