Volkswagen Tiguan, Passat spied testing in India again; to be launched this year

As Volkswagen continues testing the Tiguan SUV and the Passat sedan in India, the upcoming models have been caught on camera yet again, indicating that the work is rapidly progressing. Volkswagen is expected to launch the Tiguan SUV by April-May followed by Passat in July-August.

VW Tiguan

Volkswagen had showcased the upcoming Tiguan SUV at Auto Expo 2016 and when launched, the model will take on the likes of Audi Q3, Mercedes-Benz GLA and even the BMW X1 in India. The five-seater is based on the MQB platform and is expected to be brought to India as CKD (Completely Knocked Down) units. It will be assembled locally at the company's plant in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district.

In India, Tiguan is likely to be powered by a 2.0-litre diesel engine, which can churn out 148bhp and 340Nm of torque and 2.0-litre TSI turbocharged four-cylinder petrol that is tuned to develop 177bhp and 320Nm of torque. The transmission in Tiguan is expected to be taken care by a six-speed manual or a seven-speed DSG gearbox and the SUV is likely to be offered in both 2-wheel drive and all-wheel drive options.

VW Passat

Passat is based on the MQB platform and will be pitted against Toyota Camry and Skoda Superb in India. Volkswagen Passat was part of the Indian market till 2013 and was withdrawn from the country owing to poor sales. Under the hood, the new Passat is expected to come with a 1.8-litre TSI engine that also powers Skoda Octavia and Superb.

The engine is expected to develop 180bhp, mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. The plug-in hybrid model, Passat GTE, is also expected to come to the market later this year. Reports also suggest that a 2.0-litre TDI diesel unit mated to a DSG transmission could also make it to the market.

The new version of Passat comes with LED wrap-around headlamps, LED DRLs and LED fog lights.

Source: MotorBeam