
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