The Volkswagen Tiguan gets a third generation that might just end up in our market.
In just under half a decade, the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace has emerged as the most important model to the company’s sales success in Malaysia. Now the Tiguan has been given a generational update globally and Volkswagen Passenger Car Malaysia is left with the question of whether retooling the factory is worth the investment.
The all-new third generation Volkswagen Tiguan just debuted today and promises to expand on the success of the relatively new nameplate which has found 7.6 million customers since 2007. The latest Tiguan is built on the MQB evo platform and brings technical developments in all areas. There is still no talk of an Allspace variant yet.
The new hybrid variant has an all-electric range of 100km, there’s faster AC Charging and even DC Fast charging on plug-in ‘eHybrid’ versions, a new Digital Cockpit based on the fourth-gen modular infotainment matrix, massaging front seats, IQ.LIGHT HD matrix headlights, new DCC Pro adaptive chassis control and the latest Park Assist module.
The new Volkswagen Tiguan is longer by 3cm versus its predecessor with minimal changes to the wheelbase and width of the vehicle.
Despite the minimal dimension changes, the new Tiguan has an additional 37 litres of boot space versus the outgoing model.
Design-wise, the new Tiguan features very flat LED headlights and a glass-covered strip connecting the two with an LED light strip up top. This LED strip motif carries to the rear of the vehicle as well.
The radiator grille openings are pushed down to the bumper and feature integrated air curtains for optimised air flow. The drag coefficient has been improved from 0.33Cd to 0.28 Cd. Wheels up to 20″ in diameter have been designed for the new Tiguan.
Inside, the new Volkswagen Tiguan features a clean design with a 15″ display complete with a new graphics and digital interface, a new heads-up display and a new OLED digital instrument cluster.
A rotary dial with a mini screen can be used for contextual controls – either the driving profile, radio volume, or ambient lighting colour. There’s also a new IDA voice assistant.
The gear selector has been moved to the steering column a-la-Mercedes-Benz and there are still paddle shifters behind the steering wheel itself. The new ergoActive plus massage seats feature four-way lumbar adjustment and can be set up for automatic seat temperature control.
The Volkswagen Tiguan in its third generation will be available with a wide variety of powertrain options. These include turbocharged diesel and petrol motors (TDI and TSI), mild hybrid turbo petrol motors (eTSI) as well as plug-in hybrid systems (eHybrid). All of these are paired to a dual-clutch automatic (DSG).
The Tiguan comes as standard with a Vehicle Dynamics Manager that controls the electronic differential locks, the DCC Pro system and wheel-specific braking interventions for greater comfort and enhanced performance.
