Spotted in the wild! Volkswagen Tiguan TDI in California
Filed under: Diesel, Volkswagen
When Volkswagen announced their new Tiguan compact crossover last year, American VW fans got excited about the prospect of a TDI model joining the lineup. It would have been the first diesel-powered small SUV in the U.S. market, but alas it wasn't meant to be, at least not yet. While VW officials say they have no immediate plans to offer a diesel in the U.S. Tiguan when the vehicle launches later this year, an observant driver has nonetheless spotted one in California. The Tiguan was parked at VW's California design studio in Palo Alto and closer examination revealed that it was was oil-burner. It's not at all unusual for manufacturers to be testing models only sold in foreign markets on our shores and the presence of this particular Tiguan doesn't necessarily signify anything. Most likely, Volkswagen will be watching how sales of the upcoming Jetta and Touareg TDI models do here - along with watching the price of diesel fuel - before making a go/no-go call on the Tiguan TDI.
[Source: TDIclub, thanks to Brian for the tip]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-25-2008 @ 12:59PM
Stephen said...
A Tiguan TDI would be great, but a Rabbit TDI would be fantastic.
BTW, it's the VW Electronics Research Laboratory (http://www.vwerl.com).
Reply
3-25-2008 @ 2:22PM
Mattias said...
The Tiguan already has the common rail engine family that is easily adaptable to US emission requirements. But profit margins on the gas engines might be higher, even on the relatively sophisticated 1.4 superduperdoubleturbocharged engine...
Reply
3-25-2008 @ 7:02PM
MikeW said...
For the Rabbit, I would settle for the DSG as an option over the 6 speed automatic.
Reply
3-26-2008 @ 8:48AM
Guenther said...
(we) Germans can be so arrogant sometimes... why would a consumer even go look at this, when there are so many other (competent) offerings in the segment?
Reply
3-26-2008 @ 11:11AM
Joseph Augustine said...
I think a tiguan TDI would be very competative in the US. With its high 30's mpg. I would love to have one. You cant touch 25mpg in most other small Suvs.
Reply
3-26-2008 @ 1:22PM
Mooseman said...
"It would have been the first diesel-powered small SUV in the U.S. market..."
You mean, 2nd. You'll recall the Jeep Liberty diesel.
Reply
3-26-2008 @ 2:29PM
owr084 said...
Guenther -
Your comments are totally meaningless in North America where diesels (other than full size pickups and larger) are extremely scarce. For the 2008 model year, we only have a few Mercedes, a couple of Jeeps, and the VW Touraeg. That's it.
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