Volkswagen plans to expand its existing SUV line up with a mid-sized seven-seater that will bridge the gap between the Tiguan and Touareg.
The demand for a mid-sized SUV stems from the American market, which does not view the relatively diminutive Tiguan as a viable player in a lucrative market dominated by Hummers, Navigators and the like.
Initial reports suggested that Volkswagen would simply stretch the Tiguan in order to fit in an extra row of seats – much like Nissan has done with the Qashqai+2. However, the next-generation Touareg it set to grow, so a slightly stretched Tiguan simply won’t fill the gap between the two existing models.
Another route that Volkswagen could have taken was to utilise the same platform used in the upcoming Audi Q5. The company has, however, decided against this option and will instead use a slightly modified version of the next-generation Passat’s platform.
This floorpan (known internally as PQ47) has a couple of advantages over the Q5 platform. Firstly, it allows the new SUV to sport a transverse engine layout, which frees up more cabin space in comparison to the longitudinal layout of the Audi platform. Secondly, the cost-effective nature of the platform will allow Volkswagen to potentially develop Seat and Skoda-based versions of the new model with relatively little outlay in terms of technical development costs.
This new model is likely to emerge towards the end of 2010 and go on sale the following year and rival the likes of Volvo’s recently introduced XC60, the Mercedes-Benz GLK and BMW upcoming X1 compact SUV.
