Volkswagen Taigun To Enter Production

The Volkswagen Taigun concept was shown at the 2012 Sao Paolo Motor Show as a four-seat, rugged looking, sub-compact crossover to fit the VW line-up below the Tiguan. It seems very real growth of the small crossover market (more than 8.7 million units globally in 2012 according to Volkswagen), has prompted the German manufacturer to want to produce the little crossover.

There has been no official announcement, however, but patent images of a production version have been leaked from a Chinese website auto.sohu.com and followed by additional photos from Volkswagen themselves, adding to the speculation.

The VW Taigun measures 3 859 mm long, 1 728 mm wide and rides on a 2 470 mm wheelbase. To put these measurements in perspective, the Taigun is 568 mm shorter, 81 mm narrower and the wheelbase is 134 mm shorter than the popular Volkswagen Tiguan. It’s also far lighter than its chunky appearance may suggest, weighing 985 kg, or over 520 kg less than the Tiguan. Of course these figures are for the Taigun concept and are likely to inflate somewhat come the final product, but they’re a good start nonetheless.

The Taigun concept is powered by a newly-developed 1.0-litre TSI turbocharged 3-cylinder engine, which produces 81 kW and 175 Nm of torque. It might not sound like much, but then it doesn’t need to be considering the vehicle’s low weight figure. The 0 – 100 km/h dash is over in 9.2 seconds according to VW and, in combination with a 6-speed manual transmission, it will average fuel consumption of 4.5 L/100km. In production form it is likely that a range of small capacity, turbocharged, petrol and diesel engines will be available, with the option a 7-speed DSG transmission.

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