2016 Volkswagen Tiguan revealed

The Volkswagen Tiguan was recently spied undisguised during an advertising shoot. The pictures revealed the all new design that the SUV features and now, the German automaker has officially revealed the 2016 Tiguan. The SUV will start hitting dealerships in select markets from April 2016.

As seen in the images before, the new Tiguan sports a design overhaul and is a far cry from the mundane styling given to the outgoing model. Based on the VW group's MQB platform, the new Tiguan is around 60 mm longer and 30 mm wider than the old model, with the wheelbase going up by 76 mm and the height dropping by 33 mm on the base front wheel drive model.

There are a total of eight Euro-6 compliant engines on offer, all of which have turbocharging, direct injection, a stop-start system and battery regeneration as standard.

The four TSI (petrol) engines produce:

- 123 BHP

- 147.5 BHP

- 177 BHP

- 217 BHP

The four TDI (diesel) engines produce:

- 114 BHP

- 147.5 BHP

- 188 BHP

- 236 BHP

The base engines of the new Tiguan are offered with front-wheel drive, but all of the other engines are available with all-wheel drive either as an option or as standard. Models equipped with the 4MOTION all-wheel drive system feature a 200 mm ground clearance and the fifth generation Haldex coupling that actively distributes torque to all four wheels before any slip occurs. In normal driving conditions, only the front wheels are driven to save fuel, but as soon as there is a risk of losing traction, the rear axle is variably engaged. The SUV also comes with 4MOTION Active Control – an off-road switch with four different modes.

VW also revealed a plug-in hybrid concept for the Tiguan i.e. the Tiguan GTE. The GTE produces a combined system output of 215 BHP and can cover a distance of up to 50 km on electric power alone.

On the inside, the features available include a 12.3-inch infotainment system display, a head-up display, three zone automatic climate control, a heatable steering wheel and electric seats.

Safety features include front assist (including city emergency braking and pedestrian monitoring), seven airbags, automatic post-collision braking system, driver alert system, adaptive cruise control, lane-changing assistant, pre-crash proactive occupant protection (detects elevated collision potential, tensions the front seatbelts to restrain the driver and front passenger and closes open windows and the sunroof to just a small gap), emergency assist and area view.

It remains to be seen if / when the Tiguan will be launched in India. Rivals in our sub-continent will include the Honda CR-V, Toyota Fortuner and the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport. The Tiguan has been revealed only as a 5-seater and an extended wheelbase 7-seater is expected later. Reports suggest that it will be the 7-seater that will be launched in India.