Volkswagen Tiguan SUV imported for testing purpose in India

Volkswagen has imported a unit of new Tiguan SUV to India, fuelling fresh rounds of whispers in the auto corridors about the launch of the model in India. A record of Zauba, which tracks the import and export data of India shows that the German car-maker has imported a single unit of the Tiguan SUV for testing and homologation purpose in India.

According to the documents, the Tiguan has been imported from Germany on September 30. Volkswagen had showcased the Tiguan at the Auto Expo 2016 and the company has hinted that the SUV would be brought to India based on the response for it from the country. The SUV is expected to be launched in the country in 2017.

Based on the MQB platform, the Tiguan is a five-seater SUV, which is expected to go up against Audi Q3, Mercedes-Benz GLA and even the BMW X1 in India. The Tiguan is likely to be powered by a 2.0-litre diesel engine, which can churn out 187bhp. In the international market, the Tiguan's powertrain includes eight engines in petrol and diesel with power ranging from 115bhp to 248bhp.

The new design has been inspired by the Cross Coupe GTE, Volkswagen unveiled last year. The round body panels have made way for more straight panels and the edges are sharp in new avatar. The vehicle also boasts of Front Assist with City Emergency Braking and Pedestrian Monitoring, Lane Assist and the Automatic Post-Collision Braking System, all as standard safety features.

The new Tiguan, despite being 60mm longer and 30mm wider than the original, has lost more than 50kg and sits 33mm lower. The wheelbase has been stretched by 77mm to 2,681 mm and has a boot capacity of 615-litres.