[abhishek_hch]

Originally Posted by prajwalmr62

We have Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV300 which provide a lot of "bling feature" along with assured safety. If these companies can do it, then how come companies with larger resources and IP cannot do it?

We should call out profiteering (or penny pinching) when it is being done, even if it is our favorite brands.

Yes, even that is a value proposition being offered - Great safety, all blings, maybe not the brand value and driving dynamics. Those who like it, will pick that up.

My only limited submission is why hang VW group by the scruff of their necks for profiteering by cutting features and not attach the same 'profiteering' tag to Hyundai or Suzuki cars which cut cost by cutting the shell strength. Both are the same but one (IMHO the lesser guilty one) gets treated much harsher than the other.

[Axe77]

Speaking of the GT trim, can someone clarify which colour option/s do not come with the exterior body colours replicated on the interior trims?

I didn’t care too much for that interior look. I’m assuming silver will be one. Any others?

Variants and Pricing

I am getting the sense that between the two siblings, VAG is trying to carpet bomb various different price points with varying combinations of features. So a fully loaded Kushaq manual may be better equipped than its VW counterpart. Conversely the top of line Taigun automatic may be better equipped and slightly differently priced than the Kushaq A/T. So whatever price / variant Korean competitor one looks at there will perhaps be either a Kushaq or Taigun within strike range either side with a set of features that are comparable. Just my gut feel sense. Let’s see what emerges once full details with prices are out.

This is perhaps slightly different the Koreans approach where the two siblings are over a course of time matching each other’s features point for point (recent example is paddle shifters being added to the Seltos).

[Asoon]

I see only 2 red flags for Taigun
- Road presence (missing SUV DNA which most ppl look for)
- Pricing (to be a commercial success it needs a significant curt from Kushaq)

Rest everything is well put together, there are some gaps (body coloured interior lines, dashboard/ button issues) but if they price well this can be next polo like success for VW

[andafunda]

Originally Posted by prajwalmr62

I've been seeing this kinda post on Team-BHP a lot lately. What is wrong with expecting features for a car you are paying 20 lakhs and more? For most of us, the guy who's driving is not the only one who sits in the car. We have family and kids who want charging ports for their phones, rear AC vents, wider rear seats, and what not.

No one is saying features are lame. What I'm saying is that (sadly) we as consumers have to make a choice between max creature comforts or max safety in this price segment.

In an ideal world, I'd want a 3 series in 20 lacs, but this ideal world sadly doesn't exist. So a consumer has to make a choice.

My choice is max safety and driving dynamics (vs a few creature comforts not being present). But my choice is mine. Everyone has different considerations.

Originally Posted by avira_tk

A low slung hatch is bad news on the highway, a crossover gives you the visibility that allows you to be prepared and see further ahead, instead of seeing the buffalo in your lane, you can see it before it jumps the barricade, my personal experience driving a punto and an ecosport respectively.

Well if there is a choice, I'd rather pick a car that will protect me and my family in the unfortunate case of an accident with the buffalo, rather than one that disintegrates into two.

[shinuak]

Nice, detailed review as usual and expected from the forum. Taigun looks dapper and from the pictures and I feel it has the edge over Kushaq. I have seen the Kushaq in person and though it looked ok, it dint appeal to me as much since it does not have the presence in my opinion. And both the cars, I feel, are in the "neither here nor there" category.
I will elaborate what I meant by that regarding Kushaq and Taigun through the below points.

1. Is it an entry level sub compact ? Answer is No, but is it comparable with other next level compact SUV in the category, again answer is no

2. Is it priced for the size and value offered by competition? Answer is No. But is it way over priced for the quality?, again answer is No

3. Is it premium offering ? Answer is Yes. But does it miss out on some features offered by entry level cars of SAVW, Answer is yes

So this is what I meant by "neither here nor there" kind of a car. I would rather consider Karoq or T Roc as the comparable compact SUV which can be considered as competition to Korean siblings.
Again we all know that SAVW is not about the bling but more on drive dynamics, safety and build quality. I hope these cars live up to that expectation and garner more numbers.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by prajwalmr62

We have Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV300 which provide a lot of "bling feature" along with assured safety. If these companies can do it, then how come companies with larger resources and IP cannot do it?

We should call out profiteering (or penny pinching) when it is being done, even if it is our favorite brands.

Actually, very little bling is offered by the Nexon or Xuv300. Neither has large touchscreen infotainment. None of them offer ventilated seats or LED headlights. In fact they come with halogen bulbs! Nexon also comes with only 2 airbags. Coming to the Taigun, it is a good car but unfortunately, apart from the digital instrument cluster, it doesn’t offer any new features like adaptive cruise control or autonomous emergency braking.

[kushagra452]

Excellent review by Team BHP. Kudos! Good looking car from VW. I expect VW to price this at a premium of anywhere from 50k to 1.5L to the Kushaq (depending on the variant). I expect the top of the line variant to be 20L+ (ex-showroom Delhi). The base variant will only be available on paper and will most likely be phased out after a few months (weeks?). These will be introductory prices for the first xxx bookings. I expect VW to take a price hike within 6 months of the launch.

[SBM3J]

Originally Posted by kushagra452

I expect VW to price this at a premium of anywhere from 50k to 1.5L to the Kushaq (depending on the variant). I expect the top of the line variant to be 20L+ (ex-showroom Delhi). These will be introductory prices for the first xxx bookings. I expect VW to take a price hike within 6 months of the launch.

Not sure why this would have premium over Kushaq, they have left out few key features like ventilated seats, leatherette seats and premium audio on the top end GT line(it gets 6 airbags instead). This most certainly is done to price this on par or below the Kushaq pricing. 20l ex-showroom price would take the cake for missteps for VW if it’s true.

[sunikkat]

Originally Posted by shinuak

I would rather consider Karoq or T Roc as the comparable compact SUV which can be considered as competition to Korean siblings.

Sorry, but Karoq quality is way better than Korean twins and don't think they are comparable. Infact Karoq overall build quality, interiors is comparable to Octavia and Compass.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by ron178

Also, did you discount the Seltos over crashworthiness or for other reasons?

Absolutely!

Kia lost at least one customer in me because of that. To put it straight - No other car would have matched my initial requirements to the T, like the Seltos and Sonet 1.5 Diesel 6 speed TC automatic. One sure shot sale lost, but then again - I guess that wouldn't matter because they would sell another few 10 cars within the time I take to compose this post.

Originally Posted by ron178

Sorry, I'm just curious - if side and curtain airbags had been available on the 1-litre with the 6-speed auto, would you have picked that over the 1.5-litre dual clutch?

There is no confirmation that the 1.0 TSI AT will miss out on 6 airbags, as in the Kushaq. We have to wait for the variant distribution. But it would still not have been my top choice.

Let's put it this way - I might be looking at another 10 years of ownership, hopefully the prime driving days of my life. Might as well buy a car that brings the maximum smiles. (Can't afford a BMW or Porsche, before someone makes fun of this statement). I'm still researching on DSG issues in recent years and if it turns out to be too much of a hassle, second choice would be Kushaq 1.5 MT Style or Compass 1.4 Sport MT.

PS: Of course - this is a personal take on the topic. Those looking at an automatic only can consider the 1.0 AT against the 1.5 DSG. I loved that combination on the Polo and should be decent on the heavier Taigun/Kushaq too.

Originally Posted by Axe77

Speaking of the GT trim, can someone clarify which colour option/s do not come with the exterior body colours replicated on the interior trims?

I didn’t care too much for that interior look. I’m assuming silver will be one. Any others?

Only Cherry Red colour will have matching interior panels. Also do note - this is only for the GT, as far as we know for now. For the 1.0 top and mid-spec (cherry red car with silver interiors that too) - pictures have been posted on the previous pages.

[roadlover1705]

Thank you for a detailed review. I have been closely monitoring these launches and glad that VW has an intent to expand in the Indian market - their 2.0 strategy seems to be hitting the right notes! We absolutely need good car manufactures staying in India.

A fan of classic-plain-clean looks, the chrome does threw me off but overall it still looks a safer package than the current rivals. Ultimately, I hope car buyers will prefer safety above anything else.

[84.monsoon]

VW has put out the Taigun brochure on its website (also attached here)

I must say this is a good looking car indeed. And an excellent review 100% up there in terms of Team BHP standards! The sheer level of details and number of pictures says it all. Great job, Crazy Driver and Gannu!

I much prefer the more linear looks of the Taigun to the slightly curvy design of the Kushaq. This one has a lot of true VW DNA in its looks and design, if you ignore the chrome. The cherry red interior bits look awful, thank god they restricted this to the red color mid GT-variant alone.

My mom's 7-year old Punto is creaking and groaning and she will soon need a replacement city car. A germ of an idea forming in my mind about recommending to her to get the base Taigun 1.0 MT (she is 100% chauffer driven). Maybe I can take it for an outstation trip or two here and there . Though if north of 10 lakhs ex-showroom, it would be way out of her budget and the Magnite/Kiger mid-end is probably the cheaper and more appropriate car for her use.

The brochure has 4 pictures of female models and two pictures of male models. VW, are you suggesting something here about the target audience?

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

My mom's 7-year old Punto is creaking and groaning and she will soon need a replacement city car. A germ of an idea forming in my mind about recommending to her to get the base Taigun 1.0 MT (she is 100% chauffer driven). Maybe I can take it for an outstation trip or two here and there . Though if north of 10 lakhs ex-showroom, it would be way out of her budget and the Magnite/Kiger mid-end is probably the cheaper and more appropriate car for her use.

Chauffeur driven then get the variant with 6 airbags. Worth it for safety.

[needforspeed88]

Have seen lot of people claiming how they will only focus on safety and dynamics but when it comes to making that final call, the likes Creta is the one end up being their choice. Somebody must be buying so many Cretas right? Many of them enthusiasts too.

You know why, Car buying after a certain point in your life is something which involves the whole family, where you take everybody's needs in to consideration. You look at ingress and egress for your parents, room for your luggage, rear seat space, sunroof for airy ambience, rear AC vents are a must these days in cars of this segment, wireless charger for convenience of your better half, the list goes on.

Anyone ever thought, a Wagon R which costs almost the same as a Tiago sells two and a half times as a Tiago? Take a drive in both cars and you will realize soon enough. The claustrophobic rear seat, poor knee room, head room, poor ingress, egress, low hip point on the rear seat and a smaller boot, all these things make a man with a family look at the Wagon R instead of Tiago which is a safer and enthusiast car. I am not advocating buying unsafe cars but what i feel is that sometimes people argue as if car buying is an uni-dimensional process.

I am an enthusiast who loves driving great handling cars but that is not the only criteria i have when i look for a car for the family. Hate to say it but those plastics don't belong in a ten lakh rupee car, let alone a 20 lakh one.

[rpm]

Originally Posted by ashishk29

Sorry, but I have a bit of a hard time believing that all 4 discs wouldn't have been better than a 2 disc-2 drum setup. Disc brakes do have inherent advantages over drums, especially in matters of braking performance. Drums are usually better only in incredibly heavy vehicles due to the surface area that drums can provide.

So I respectfully disagree that having all 4 discs doesn't really matter. Besides, a lot of other cars in the same price bracket do come equipped with all 4 discs (Creta, Seltos, XUV300, XUV500 to name a few). They should've provided rear discs at least to the 1.5 variants.............

It's all about the general expectation at a general price point. It's great that VW is till guaranteeing their classic handling and dynamics experience, but they need to at least match their competitors in these rather basic things.

Since we are open to considering the performance w.r.t competitors, it may be possible that a 2-disc + 2-drum setup can match or outperform a supposedly superior 4-disc setup of a competitor even if the vehicles aren't as incredibly heavy as they should be for a drum setup to be of any advantage. Now, I'm not saying that this will always be the case, but exceptions do exist.

Let's see one example of this in action (brought to my notice by BHPian TurboGuy):
Verna (4-disc) vs Rapid (2-disc + 2-drum) (Skoda Kushaq | A Close Look & Preview)

Here, you see an example of a supposedly inferior setup outperforming a supposedly superior setup. Now, this is not to say that the same will be the case for Taigun and its competitors; I have no way of knowing that. The only logical way to find that out, is by performing brake tests on similar surfaces. I would also like to point out that this video does not imply that a 4-disc Rapid can not outperform a 2-disc + 2-drum Rapid, it's just that we won't know how it will work out in a real life scenario without real world figures of the braking performance.

Sometimes, the specs on paper may not translate to real-life, and in such a case, it may be better to not have 4-discs (especially if you're concerned about braking performance) which may look better on paper, but may not reliably translate to a better real world performance.