Volkswagen does not build many cars like the Volkswagen Tiguan: a 5-door SUV with Petrol engine, built from 2007 in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Its designer of record is Klaus Bischoff, Marc Lichte and Andreas Mindt (initial design work) / Silva Arnaldo Cruzeiro (facelift).
The story
The Volkswagen Tiguan (German pronunciation: [ˈfɔlksˌvaːɡn̩ ˈtiːɡu̯aːn]) is a sport utility vehicle produced by German manufacturer Volkswagen since 2007, sitting between the smaller T-Roc and the larger Touareg in the company's crossover SUV range. The first generation was based on the PQ46 platform, while the second generation, released in 2016, utilizes the Volkswagen Group MQB A2 platform. It is generally considered to be a medium-sized SUV in Europe, while in North America it is considered to be a compact crossover SUV.
The name Tiguan is a portmanteau of the German words Tiger ("tiger") and Leguan ("iguana") and won a naming contest by German car magazine publisher Auto Bild—from a field of names that also included Namib, Rockton, Samun and Nanuk. As of the spring of 2020, six million units had been sold worldwide, with 910,926 units being manufactured in 2019 alone, making the Tiguan the best-selling car overall in the Volkswagen Group. It was also the best-selling SUV in Europe.
What is underneath
Under the skin sits Petrol engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. The gearbox is a 6-speed manual / 6-speed automatic / 6-speed DSG / 7-speed DSG. The wheelbase is 2604-2684 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Where it sits in Volkswagen's history is not in doubt: it was built at Wolfsburg. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Nissan GT-R, the Hyundai i30, the Audi R8. Nearby in the Volkswagen catalogue sit the Volkswagen Apollo and the Volkswagen Routan.
The money
On the used market today a Volkswagen Tiguan typically changes hands for $10,600–$37,300, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $3,231–$7,224 a year. Insurance sits around $1,120–$2,340 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.