cars news 10: Report: Volkswagen Confirms Three Tiguan Variants

In an interview with Autocar, Volkswagen confirmed it will bring out three versions of the next-gen Tiguan by 2018.

“We are planning to introduce a whole family of Tiguan models in coming years,” said Jochen Böhle, product development chief for VW’s compact cars. “Tiguan has developed into a sub-brand, and we intend to build on it.”

While the first-gen Tiguan might not have been a huge sales hit in the U.S., over 2.6 million units have been sold worldwide since its debut. For the second-gen model, all three versions will sit on the Golf’s MQB platform and will be offered in both front- and all-wheel-drive variants.

Volkswagen debuted a new standard-wheelbase Tiguan at the Frankfurt auto show last year. That model will go on sale in global markets this year. In the U.S., we’ll receive a long-wheelbase version boasting room for seven passengers by 2017. As we previously heard, VW is also cooking up a Tiguan coupe, which will hit global markets by 2018.

The automaker hadn’t always planned to build a coupe version, the automaker said, but Volkswagen brand chairman Herbert Diess remains one of the biggest proponents behind the car. The model could lend a sportier image to the Tiguan lineup, especially if VW goes along with rumored plans to introduce an R version. The automaker could bring out a Tiguan Coupe R with a 2.0-liter gas engine tuned similarly to the Golf R, which churns out 292 hp.

Source: Autocar