2009 VW Tiguan

VW has a very aggressive strategy globally. VW, having acquired premium brands; Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, and now entertaining talks of merging with Porsche, has the luxury end of the auto spectrum well covered. To expand sales in the consumer segment VW has venerable cars like Jetta, and Golf, which have long been best sellers in Europe and are making foot prints in North America. VW is also launching new vehicles and the Tiguan, a premium crossover SUV, is VW voyage into this highly lucrative market. I had a delightful time during my week of driving the Tiguan in the DC metropolitan area. One thing I noticed is the premium feel and as I spoke to VW PR I was informed it’s imported and actually costs more in Europe where consumers are used to premium small cars. The Tiguan I drove was loaded with leather, and a 30GB hard drive with 10GB for navigation and 20 GB for audio. I was also able to watch DVD video in the navigation screen while parked with the screen also doubling as a monitor for the backup camera. The Tiguan handles well and better than its competitors as I drove a mix of highway and urban driving. The Tiguan is no slouch in the power department with VW sweet 2.0 L turbo 4 as its base engine making 200 HP, and 207lb-ft of torque with a 4motion all wheel drive system and six speed transmission. Fuel economy on the 4motion model I drove is 18mpg city and 24 mpg highway with the base model rated at 19/26. Pricing on the Tiguan starts at $23,200 and is available at delaerships. Visit www.vw.com for more information