We have to admit that we are impressed with the VW Taigun mini SUV concept presented at the Sao Paolo Motor Show.
The Taigun was creating using a set of components from the Up!. We loved its exterior design and the funky dashboard. VW's R&D head and board member Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg has vowed to send this concept into production, while VW's sales director Mr. Christian Klinger speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the launch remarked that the market for such an SUV existed in Brazil, China and India.
Volkswagen today confirmed that it is working on yet another SUV concept for the 2013 Detroit Motor Show that is conducted every year in the month of January, though this one may not be relevant to India. The new concept in question will be based on the VW Passat’s underpinnings and will provide seating for seven people. It will be offered in petrol and diesel options with front or all wheel drive.
The new sever seater SUV will slot between the Tiguan and the Touareg and will be produced at the company's Chattanooga production plant in Tennessee where the Passat is localized. It will compete against the Toyota Highlander, Ford Edge, Chevrolet Equinox and Honda Pilot. None of these SUV models are sold in India.
Apart from this new concept, Volkswagen is also working on a Polo-based SUV and an Up!-based micro SUV. The Polo-based SUV is expected to be ready by 2014 and will be primarily be a front wheel drive car to accelerate volumes. The Up! based SUV, previewed by the Taigun, will be the smallest SUV in the Volkswagen family and will turn up at VW dealers in 2015.
Volkswagen is clearly bullish about the growth of the SUV segments. It is planning one SUV on almost every platform that it has available. This stress on SUV is to achieve their goal of dominating the global auto market by 2018 with 10 million units sales annually.
[Source: autoweek.com]
