Volkswagen plans to launch Tiguan 5-seater with a petrol engine in India

Volkswagen India showcased their seven seater SUV Tiguan AllSpace at the Auto Expo earlier this year, and the same was launched in the Indian market a month later. The 7 seat SUV competes with vehicles such as the Skoda Kodiaq, Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour and so on in the segment. It is basically a stretched out version of the 5-seater Tiguan that was sold here before. Volkswagen had recently discontinued the regular Tiguan as it was available with a diesel engine only. The diesel engine is not BS6 compliant, and Volkswagen India has no plans to make it BS6 compliant. Now, reports suggest that Volkswagen will be bringing back the 5-seater Tiguan, but this time around with a petrol engine only.

Just like many other manufacturers, Volkswagen has also decided to dump their diesel engines and concentrate more on the petrol units. As part of this every car sold by brand in the country with a diesel engine was discontinued during the BS6 transition. The Tiguan was only available with a 2.0 litre TDI diesel engine and was discontinued. According to ACI, Volkswagen will be soon be able to launch Tiguan petrol once the current situation in the improves or the lockdown is lifted.

In comparison to the older diesel version, the petrol version is likely to be assembled here in India to save on taxes and this will also help them price the SUV more competitively. The petrol version of the Tiguan will be powered by a 1.5 litre TSI turbocharged petrol engine that generates a maximum of 150 Bhp and 250 Nm of torque mated to a 7-speed DSG transmission. This is the same engine that will be available in Skoda Karoq SUV. This engine is a perky performer, especially when mated with the twin clutch DSG automatic gearbox, which has lightning fast gear shifts.

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The upcoming petrol Tiguan will see a couple of cosmetic changes as well. The design of the front grille is slightly revised and so is the bumper. The headlights and all the other elements on the outside are likely to remain unchanged. On the inside, Tiguan petrol version will get a fully digital instrument cluster, larger touchscreen infotainment screen and might also get connected car features. The petrol SUV will not get the all-wheel drive version to keep the costs down and there is also a possibility that Volkswagen might launch a variant with 48V hybrid system to boost the fuel efficiency to attract more customers.

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