[ranjitht87]

Originally Posted by abhishek_hch

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.

Hyundai made this mass market segment with Creta(And it has all the DNA of a hyundai). And the monopoly they enjoyed in this segment gave them freehand to charge a very high premium.

General conviction on Creta is that it is overpriced and still it continue to sell in huge numbers and the premium price kept increasing.
Kia entered the segment with Seltos and they added all the extra features and priced it in the same range. And the Korean twins started competing against each other.

VW group now entering this mass segment have givenup a little on their DNA (very evident with all the reviews on both kushaq and taigun) and is pricing their vehicle including the premium Korean twins build for this segment.

I believe VW group could have build Kushaq and Taigun with all the features with VW quality and still priced it at Koreans price level.(very evident as Rapid with same engine and transmission and with better build quality and in same tax bracket is priced much lower compared to Kushaq)

This would have ensured Koreans cut their premium or build solid cars like VW to stay in the competiton.
With this current strategy of VW group i dont think its going to impact Koreans much as they will continue to sell similar numbers going forward too.

Kushaq/Taigun doesnt seem like disrupting Creta/Seltos sales like how WagonR did to Santro two decades back and how Baleno did to i20 last decade.

Koreans will thank European for skipping on features and tweaking their quality standard and still using the premium price they introduced in the segment and
Europeans will thank Koreans for the premium price that they created for this mass market segment which will now benefit them too.
And we will keep taking a side and bashing the other.
Hope MG creates some disruption in this segment with Astor.

[abhishek_hch]

Originally Posted by ranjitht87

I believe VW group could have build Kushaq and Taigun with all the features with VW quality and still priced it at Koreans price level.(very evident as Rapid with same engine and transmission and with better build quality and in same tax bracket is priced much lower compared to Kushaq)

I don't believe but wish that Hyundai Group had made Kia and Creta with a safer shell at the same price point. If not that, I wish they had done so and charged a 50,000 premium. I wish they had given more safety features in their middle & low level variants and bolstered their safety a bit. But sadly none of this happened else there would have been a Seltos in my parking slot now, as would have had many others.

IMHO We really can't compare a fresh product with one at the end of its lifecycle!

[avira_tk]

The Taigun is just the evolution of the Polo, not some Golf R twin, if VW were entering the market today, the Taigun would be their debut. Inflation adjusted prices reflect that reality. People have to push this build quality thing so hard that, suddenly it becomes awesome when the top end model doesn't have all the features. The market is used to seeing top end cars with all the features, customers who can afford the 1.5 aren't the sort who will be willing to compromise on kit. VW has always tiered their products with features, most of which were modular, in this case, even that option doesn't exist.

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.

Most of the people who buy cars, are and will be unaware of safety aspects and that is how it will be. Same can be considered with phones and internet too. How many people in this forum knows BSNL's script injections, Airtel's Wacky privacy policy, phone manufacturer's data policy etc (yes, including Samsung)? Aren't we expecting 4 rear cameras in phone as norm now, when we are paying 20k for the phone?

Collectively, we should force manufacturers to do a better job and build better cars. But saying features are bad is just lame.

This is the kind of behaviour you encounter when you invite someone over for a gathering and they spend the whole time playing a game on their phones. You're right, its lame and misleading.

Originally Posted by andafunda

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.

A 5 star rated Volvo would be toast, the weight is on the level of the windshield. Technical, but cars don't disintegrate on impact in this case, the animal might kick the driver and passenger to death as it is unlikely to die immediately. Here's how it is in real life.

https://youtu.be/4rRQTHbKbS8

[kamilharis]

Excellent review, big thanks to Sujai and Gannu. And congrats to all who had booked the car already.

To my eyes, Taigun looks way more mature, elegant, and European compared to Kushaq and I would pick the VW over Skoda just for its look.

[ashishk29]

Originally Posted by rpm

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.

My comparison wasn't about the braking performance against the competitors.
I am fully aware that the braking performance between two vehicles with different braking setup is not a comparable metric.

But like you yourself said, a 4 disc Rapid might even outperform a 2+2 setup Rapid. And I'm inclined to believe that a 4disc Rapid would definitely fare better than a 2+2 in most scenarios.

My point was mostly about that. Given that it gets a 1.5 engine, and that the top variant will likely cost very close to or above 20L, 4 discs should've been on the kit. The T-roc, which starts at around ~20L ex showroom gets the same 1.5 engine, and all 4 discs as standard.

To quote something I read in the TBHP Harrier review:

"The Harrier has disc brakes at the front and drums at the rear. While we would have liked to see discs at the rear, we can tell you that the braking capability is just fine and no owner will have any complaint."

What I'm saying is roughly along the same lines.

It's more so that at the price point and the segment that the Kushaq and Taigun are playing, they are among the few ones not to come equipped with rear discs.

[amit_mind]

I test drove T-Roc sometime back and was blown away by everything it offers.
Had VW decided to build it here, it would have been a great competition.

What let it go away from my list was its a CBU and I have had heard few stories about how painful (both cost and time) the repair has been for unfortunate people who met with some accidents.
Also, I just couldn't digest the fact that 25L on road car doesn't have cruise control, one of the main points I consider before buying a car (my polo GT has it )

Having said all this, T-Roc still keeps haunting me

[TheGearBox]

Excellent review, as always! And congrats to CrAzY dRiVeR for a worthy replacement for his mighty Punto.
While the news was that VW would be positioning the Taigun as the more premium alternative to the Kushaq, the reaity seems to be the opposite as the 1.5 TSI is available in more trim levels in the Taigun and hence will (hopefully) be accessible to more buyers.
And since we all love to modify our VAGs, here is my humble submission to get the creative juices flowing:



My render of the Taigun GTI!

Bonus tip: If you happen to find a Polo GTI donor car to source the 1.8 TSI engine from, then...

[FloatingCanvas]

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 believe Sirish Chandran mentioned that only the Red colour car will have the interiors in same colour as exterior:

You will notice the colour-coded dash inserts on the VW Taigun GT. This is complimented by deep red mood lighting that oozes out of the seams in the dash making for a very nice ambience when the sun goes down. Don’t get too excited because, for now, the red inserts are only available with the red exterior colour. The other colours get the inserts in silver-grey (the red mood lighting is across the GT range) and that’s a big reason to buy your Taigun in red.

Source:
https://www.evoindia.com/cars/car-re...t-drive-review
As well as his video review on YouTube.

[rpm]

Originally Posted by ashishk29

My comparison wasn't about the braking performance against the competitors.

In that case, I probably misunderstood the intent of your post. I apologize.

Originally Posted by ashishk29

But like you yourself said, a 4 disc Rapid might even outperform a 2+2 setup Rapid. And I'm inclined to believe that a 4disc Rapid would definitely fare better than a 2+2 in most scenarios.

This is indeed within the realms of possibility, I would agree.

Originally Posted by ashishk29

My point was mostly about that. Given that it gets a 1.5 engine, and that the top variant will likely cost very close to or above 20L, 4 discs should've been on the kit. The T-roc, which starts at around ~20L ex showroom gets the same 1.5 engine, and all 4 discs as standard.

I'm not going to tell you that T-Roc is positioned as a more premium offering or it needs to differentiate itself from the Taigun. If, as a potential customer, you think that all discs should have been part of the kit at least on the top variants, and you are willing to pay for the supposed increase in braking performance, then it's reasonable in my opinion. Even if you wish to have all discs at no additional cost in the top trims, that is perfectly fine too. Heck, if you want all discs even if they do not offer any increase in braking performance, that is ok as well. It's you who gets to decide what is worth your 20 Lakhs. I may or may not agree with you, but I certainly understand that we value different things, and hence, have different priorities.

In fact, I had considered that you may be hinting at the competition being the car itself, but what allowed ambiguity to creep in, was the last paragraph of your previous post.

Originally Posted by ashishk29

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.

If you consider that 4-discs is supposed to be representative of the parameter 'braking performance', VW/Skoda could potentially match or exceed their immediate competition with what the general public perceives to be an inferior setup. The example I gave was supposed to establish a precedent for this scenario. Of course, as a casual buyer, I also used to assume that 4-discs = better braking, before I ran into the example shared above. In the scenario presented above, it is not Skoda that needs to match its competitors, because the competition can't square up even with a supposedly better setup. The tables have turned; it is now Hyundai that needs to up its game and at least match their competitor.

So, while we could be criticising Skoda/VW for offering a supposedly inferior setup at the same price and not being their own competition, we should also be equally critical of the Korean siblings should they be outdone/matched by VW/Skoda's supposedly inferior setup.

[Juggernaught]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Heart said Taigun 1.5 DSG, mind said Compass 1.4 Sport MT or Kushaq 1.5 MT. Went with the heart, but fingers crossed on that gearbox.

Curious to know why you preferred the Kushaq 1.5 MT instead of Taigun 1.5 MT after the DSG

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Juggernaught

Curious to know why you preferred the Kushaq 1.5 MT instead of Taigun 1.5 MT after the DSG

There is no confirmation on a top-end Taigun GT MT with 6 airbags and other features. From whatever little we could get out of the officials at the event - we are almost sure there won't be one.

But as GTO mentioned in his post - VW has time to correct it before launch. From our end, we have given this feedback and I believe few other media publications did too.

[Anis Ahmed]

So it is official now that we will get all the answers only by September 3rd week.

[Turbo_anup]

Currently driving a 2012 VW Highline 1.6 TDI Vento with 180K kms under Odo, the launch of Taigun couldn't have come at a better time than this for me. Prior to this launch, I was looking at Ecosport, Venue and Kushaq (though I personally don't like Skoda due to their after sales - my experience with VW has been ok). Did not consider Creta due to long waiting period, no discounts and it not being crash tested.

Am assuming, that post 6-7 months when the initial euphoria on new models is down, there may be some discounts or exchange bonus etc to bring the price down. Further, am more drawn to straight lines and design of VW (Wolf in sheep's clothing) rather than Skoda's design. This was the same reason that i went ahead for Vento instead of Rapid in 2012. Just hoping now that VW prices the variants especially the 1.0 L Manual ones sensibly. Am looking at a range of 10 - 13 lacs ex-showroom for 1.0 L manual to fit in my planned budget.

[NevGin]

Originally Posted by Anis Ahmed

So it is official now that we will get all the answers only by September 3rd week.

The date as told to me by the dealer is 23-Sep. A few limited early deliveries will commence right after that.

[JishD]

As received from dealer - launch on 23rd September.
Highly doubt the price range , if it's true for 1.5 TSI DSG , Kushaq owners like me will be like