VW Tiguan production begins in India

Volkswagen India is all set to launch its first product of 2017, the all-new Tiguan. While the actual launch is a month or two away, production of the vehicle has begun at the VW plant already.

The Tiguan will be built at the facility shared by Skoda, Audi and VW at Aurangabad. The facility currently builds the Octavia, Superb and the Audi line up that is made in India. The Tiguan was first showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo in 2016 and was confirmed to make an entry into the Indian market. Since then, we have seen a lot of spy shots of the car testing, mostly without any camouflage.

So what do we know about the car?

One thing we know for sure about the Tiguan is the engine that will come under the hood. VW has revealed that the Tiguan will be powered by a 2.0 liter TDi engine. What is also known is that this will be mated to a new 7-speed DSG, rather than the 6-speed DSG that is currently on offer on the diesel range of VW cars. What the company hasn’t revealed is the power output though.

The possible states of tune in the international market are the 147 Bhp, 178 Bhp or 187 Bhp. This being their SUV, we expect the 178 Bhp state of tune, however VW could offer that only on the top end models. That will only be known at the time of launch though.

The Tiguan will come with the LED DRLs and LED tail lamps as well. We can expect LED headlamps on the top of the line variant, which is something on offer on the international model. While the car that was showcased at the Auto Expo had a digital instrument cluster, it is yet to be seen if the same makes it to the Indian market when the car is launched.

The new Tiguan is based on the MQB platform and has shed close to 50kgs over its predecessor. The company has been contemplating the Tiguan for the Indian market for a while now, however nothing had previously materialized.

The SUV is expected to be launched in May now and will take on the Honda CR-V and the Hyundai Tucson.