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Old 24th May 2017, 13:52   #181
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Re: Volkswagen imports 2016 Tiguan into India for testing purposes

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Originally Posted by smsrini View Post
The Tucson suddenly looks more appealing with an onroad pricing of INR 31,79,000/- for the 2WD AT GLS in Bangalore. How will this pricing change after GST comes into play in July ?
Any 5 seater premium urban SUV or crossover is ideally priced around 25 lacs on road. Anything more is a 'mis-fire with starter failure'.

I am sincerely hoping that Jeep does not follow suit with the Compass pricing.
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Old 24th May 2017, 14:05   #182
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

With almost 40 lakhs on road price for Tiguan Highline, let’s look at the other available options in market:

True Blue SUVs: Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour, Isuzu MU-X and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport.

If a buyer is looking for a proper SUV in this range, I don’t think too many would wander off from Fortuner. Those who choose to look beyond Fortuner would end up with the Endeavour.

Urban SUVs: Hyundai Tucson, Santa Fe, BMW X1, Audi Q3 and Mercedes GLA.

It’s clear that VW is targeting this segment of buyers with the Tiguan. But with options like Santa Fe, Q3 and GLA well within the reach and expected launch of Compass, it’s going to be a hard sell.

PS: Seems like there are not too many options in this price bracket if one is looking for a sedan apart from Superb and Camry.
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Old 24th May 2017, 14:30   #183
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

It is probably overpriced, but quite an elegant looking machine nevertheless. From a product point of view I can understand the comparison with a X1 or a GLA, but conveniently omitted the Q3 
And the Q3 could be the reason for the lower state of tune for the engine.
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Old 24th May 2017, 14:40   #184
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

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Originally Posted by GTO View Post

Can't wait to drive it. There's no European SUV in this segment yet, so VW might just be onto something. It's rather compact (shorter than the Jetta & Octavia) - an advantage or disadvantage depending on how you see it, but I know a lot of people who are put off by the sheer size of the Endeavour, Fortuner etc. The Tiguan might be the perfect size for cities. Expensive yes, but I think it'll find its own market. Even the Jetta is so much more expensive than the Elantra - which one do we love more ?

Wish they'd given the Tiguan a higher state of tune. It's so heavy, and still has power / torque similar to the Jetta / Octavia.
Honestly - we fit exactly into that bracket you have described above.

Looking for something compact enough for the daily city run, but also something we can take out of town without a worry about road conditions (though majority of highways are best suited to sedans, the cities are not IMHO, but will continue this on the sedan v/s SUV thread) with a price range of around 30L OTR.
The Tucson was the only bet so far, but the VW Tiguan Comfortline may just be worth the additional INR 2L over it for the emotional connect as you've rightly pointed out.

As for the performance, I think this gearbox can handle some more torque, so maybe a remap would sort out the power issues
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Old 24th May 2017, 15:03   #185
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

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Originally Posted by lamborghini View Post
Looking for something compact enough for the daily city run, but also something we can take out of town without a worry about road conditions
Won't the 149 mm ground clearance be a problem in that case? Even though Tuscon has 172 mm ground clearance, even that would prove to be inadequate for Indian conditions.

I have been seeing Jeep Compass mules very frequently and it looks polished enough to challenge these SUVs unless priced at stratospheric levels.

Last edited by ksameer1234 : 24th May 2017 at 15:04.
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Old 24th May 2017, 15:08   #186
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

Just checkout the tiguan at Palace cross road dealership bangalore. The first thing when I stepped into the cabin was the sheer quality and the fit and finish of the cabin which is top notch. In fact the cabin is quite spacious. I am 6ft 3 inches tall and could comfortably sit in the front and back.

Even when I sat in the front to my position somebody who is about 5ft 11 inches tall could easily sit behind me.

The GC of 150mm is based on the new certification of ARAI which requires the car to be fully loaded with 5 passengers and full tank of fuel.

The interesting part is I walked into the ford showroom next door immediately after to check the endeavour 3.2 titanium. The cabin of the endeavour cannot match the quality of the tiguan and the first two rows of the endeavour has lesser leg and head space compared to the tiguan.

The only thing going for the endeavour was its sheer road presence. I own a xuv now and find maneuvering in Bangalore cumbersome and I can only imagine the endeavour. And mind you the endeavour is 40 lakhsplus in road bangalore.

Considering all this the highline tiguan around 38 lakh with a compact foot print actually looks good with amazing fit and finish, 4 wheel drive, terrain select and the panoramic sun roof. My two cents on the tiguan.

Last edited by GTO : 24th May 2017 at 15:38. Reason: Typo
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Old 24th May 2017, 15:08   #187
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

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I know a lot of people who are put off by the sheer size of the Endeavour, Fortuner etc.
Agreed in total to everything you have written, I personally know a person who bought Q3 over Fortuner & Endeavour as he does not have parking space.

Quote:
It's so heavy, and still has power / torque similar to the Jetta / Octavia.
Let's see how it feels to drive, perhaps a Chip or Remap can pull some more horses from this mill
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Old 24th May 2017, 15:11   #188
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

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Originally Posted by GTO View Post
In case it helps anyone considering the Tiguan, attaching the full brochure that I just received.

Can't wait to drive it. There's no European SUV in this segment yet, so VW might just be onto something. It's rather compact (shorter than the Jetta & Octavia) - an advantage or disadvantage depending on how you see it, but I know a lot of people who are put off by the sheer size of the Endeavour, Fortuner etc. The Tiguan might be the perfect size for cities. Expensive yes, but I think it'll find its own market. Even the Jetta is so much more expensive than the Elantra - which one do we love more ?
.
I do not in the least doubt which SUV would drive better. It would be the Tiguan - no doubt. But then at 40 lakhs if I love to drive wouldn't a BMW look better. Heck i'll starve, i'll beg and do whatever to raise the few lakhs I am short of.

I feel the Jetta is still within striking distance of the Elantra which is what actually hurt the Elantra. The price of the Jetta was such that if you had a 18 -20 lakh budget for a car you would look at the Jetta. The Creta is what in my view put paid to the Jetta and a lot of cars in that segment.

No matter which way I look at it I can't see the Tiguan make a dent on either the Tuscon's or the Merc/BMWs market share. They already had a very painful and expensive lesson in this internationally in the form of the fateful Phaeton trying to upstage their German brothers. I think they should have left that segment to the Q3 and the upcoming Q2.

Even the Passat had a very rough ride cracking the sales of the Audi A3, Merc C or the BMW 3 series.

Drive on,
Shibu.

Last edited by shibujp : 24th May 2017 at 15:15.
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Old 24th May 2017, 15:22   #189
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

Quote:
Originally Posted by ksameer1234 View Post
Won't the 149 mm ground clearance be a problem in that case? Even though Tuscon has 172 mm ground clearance, even that would prove to be inadequate for Indian conditions.

I have been seeing Jeep Compass mules very frequently and it looks polished enough to challenge these SUVs unless priced at stratospheric levels.
I would assume 149mm is the laden ground clearance.

BTW, the ComforLline is more comparable to the AT GLS of Tuscon.
You get 4Motion and paddle shift in ComfortLine but miss the higher engine spec, reverse camera, navigation of Tuscon even after paying 2.5 lakhs extra. The interiors seems to be far superior and I would assume the 7 speed DSG would be superior too.

HighLine is comparable to X1 xDrive that was withdrawn recently.

I had extensive test drive pretty much all SUVs in 20L-40L bracket, can't wait to test drive Tiguan!

Waiting for call from dealer. My upgrade is long due.
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Old 24th May 2017, 15:24   #190
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

Looking at the pricing, my initial reaction was-' Man, that's expensive'.
VW could have justified the pricing to some extent by giving us the Tiguan in a higher state of tune(190PS) and perhaps in the 7-seater configuration. With the current power figures, a very important trait has been taken away from the Tiguan, i.e. the engine performance. VW has been known to provide the segment best diesel engines in every segment they are present in. They have taken a step backwards with this one. The performance from this engine won't be the segment best in the heavy Tiguan.

However, after looking at the Tucson's pricing, I was like-'Hmm, not too bad after all'. The Tiguan CL offers AWD over the Tucson. When it comes to the features, it is almost neck to neck with the Tucson edging ahead. Though, when it comes to the interiors, the Tiguan does justify its pricing while the Tucson's interior looks a bit vanilla. The Tucson's engine might be better on paper, but the real world performance needs to be seen. Unless VW have screwed up, you know which of the two is going to be better to drive, don't you?

I do see a few customers going for the Comfortline, but the Highline will have to compete against the Santa Fe, the Endeavour 2.2 Titanium/3.2 Trend, the Fortuner MT and the soft-roaders from the BIG THREE. I do appreciate them for bringing more choice into the market and wish that the Tiguan and the soon to be launched even more expensive Kodiaq do well in the market.

Last edited by AYP : 24th May 2017 at 15:40.
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Old 24th May 2017, 15:34   #191
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

Not sure about its safety though. Killed few Shanghai Volkswagen Executives not long back. Frontal impact is terrifying to say the least.

http://chinaautoweb.com/2010/07/phot...sh-volkswagen/
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Old 24th May 2017, 15:43   #192
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

Quote:
Originally Posted by shibujp View Post
I do not in the least doubt which SUV would drive better. It would be the Tiguan - no doubt. But then at 40 lakhs if I love to drive wouldn't a BMW look better. Heck i'll starve, i'll beg and do whatever to raise the few lakhs I am short of.
Just like there are some people who don't want the maximum size for their buck, there are also many folk who don't want the flashy badge of a Mercedes or BMW.

Businessmen, you bet. Many deal makers don't want to roam around in an expensive car that shouts out their wealth. Even my best buddy from the corporate world is holding onto his Jetta - despite loving the C-Class. Simply because his boss drives a VW / Skoda!

Quote:
I feel the Jetta is still within striking distance of the Elantra which is what actually hurt the Elantra. The price of the Jetta was such that if you had a 18 -20 lakh budget for a car you would look at the Jetta. The Creta is what in my view put paid to the Jetta and a lot of cars in that segment.
Well said. But also keep in mind that the higher the budget, the less price sensitive the customer. A 30 lakh customer isn't going to care about 3 - 4 lakhs the way that a 10 lakh customer will.

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Originally Posted by SafariMan View Post
Not sure about its safety though. Killed few Shanghai Volkswagen Executives not long back. Frontal impact is terrifying to say the least.
Let's keep it real, . Even a 1.5 crore S-Class can't save its occupants in a 200 kmph crash against a truck. No car is death-proof.

Someone PM'ed me asking if I'd buy the Tiguan over the Endeavour. I prefer to answer on the public forum, so here it is = NO WAY. I love the Endeavour 3.2 way too much. Equally, they are both very different in nature, despite the prices overlapping. Some might cross-shop between the two, some might prefer either one (Endeavour is a big body-on-frame butch SUV, the Tiguan is a smaller car-like soft crossover).

Last edited by GTO : 24th May 2017 at 15:51.
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Old 24th May 2017, 15:44   #193
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

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Originally Posted by shibujp View Post
Well it is interesting to note that in the launch VW preferred to consider the Mercedes GLA and the BMW X1 as competitors.
My initial impression on seeing the Tiguan was that it looked only like a big Polo and nothing more in terms of visual appeal. The initial reaction on the pricing was that of shock, but this is just plain hilarious!

Dead on arrival launch IMO. If anything, some customers who had been waiting for the Tiguan might go for the Tucson, thus helping Hyundai.
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Old 24th May 2017, 15:49   #194
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

Also one other thing that I want to add is that the music system screen is a minimum of 8 inch on both the variants and quality of the output was very good and had a more than satisfactory range of adjustments.
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Old 24th May 2017, 15:50   #195
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Re: Volkswagen imports the Tiguan. EDIT: Launched at Rs. 27 - 31 lakhs

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Originally Posted by lamborghini View Post
The highline though has it's work cut out against the X1 in particular - given a little more will get you the base X1. It's a matter of engine+brand+experience (BMW) v/s features+practicality (Tiguan). It'll be interesting to see what the Indian customers pick - my bet would be the X1.
After discounts on the X1, the price difference is just about 10% higher for the BMW badge. I think most buyers would pick the X1 for better snob value styling and performance.

If VW got the LWB 7 seater Tiguan in at this price it would be justified. For now, they should seriously consider getting a FWD version and price it lower to get the product moving off the showroom floors.
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