Volkswagen Tiagun will probably be the first car on the Up! Platform, also called as PQ12, to arrive in India. The Taigun concept is based on the stretched version of the Volkswagen Up’s NSF (New Small Family) platform that made its first appearance at the Sao Paolo International Motor Show last year in October. The vehicle is also said to display the future face of the VW SUVs.
The vehicle measures at 3859 mm in length and comes with a 108 bhp three cylinder turbocharged 1.0 litre petrol engine. The engine bay of Up platform in not wide enough to hire four cylinder engine but it will receive a modification that will allow it to accommodate four cylinder 1.5 litre diesel engine that VW is currently developing for Indian market. But keeping in mind the time Taigun will be reaching India Volkswagen may be appearing with the state of the art diesel engine for the Indian market with 3 cylinders. Even the VW R&D boss, Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg said that a three cylinder 1.4 litre diesel engine is the possibility and they are specifically looking at it.
There will be no four wheel drive version as NSF platform is designed to accommodate only front wheel drive. Although the vehicle will appear with electronic stability program.
The Taigun concept weighs just 985 kg, but it is still not clear about its actually weight in the production version. With the bold and clean styling it is sure to appeal to the Indian audience. It looks less radical than Ford EcoSports and the less line means that it will appeal to everyone. The interior has been inspired by the simplicity of the latest smartphones. It is clean, visually simple and easy to use.
Hackenberg revealed that the car will be first made for South America after that it can appear in the Indian market also. So, it is quite unlikely that Indian market will be receiving the Taigun any time before 2016.
It is also expected that for Indian market Taigun may be stretched further near the four meter mark and the current wheelbase of 2470 mm will also witness a further increase. This will allow the car to offer more space and specially the rear legroom that is more important for the Indian customers.
If it is possible, VW will be concentrating on localizing the Taigun to a large extent, that will allow the company to bring Up Hatchback, saloon and other products based on the same platform without consideration of the cost issues. It is also possible that Skoda will have its own version that will also be stationed just below the Taigun. The senior management at Volkswagen has been observing the success of the Logan based Duster in the Indian market and is keen on the VW’s performance in India. They know that competitive pricing could be the key to markets like India.
