Chic and contemporary: Volkswagen Taigun

A zesty engine and keen handling are the big takeaways from a Volkswagen Taigun

Over the years Volkswagen has offered a number of SUVs in India. However, the upcoming Taigun is its most important one yet. The Taigun marks VW’s much-awaited entry into the mid-size SUV segment, going up against the likes of the popular Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos and MG Hector. Being the sister model to the Skoda Kushaq, the Taigun is built on the ‘Indianised’ MQB A0 IN platform and boasts of up to 95 % local components. While buyers will have a choice between a 115hp, 1.0-litre TSI turbo-petrol and a larger 150hp, 1.5-litre TSI turbo-petrol engines (the latter in the GT guise), here we solely focus on the latter. Both engines will be available with a 6-speed manual gearbox as standard and with individual automatic gearboxes — a 6-speed torque converter for the 1.0 TSI and a 7-speed DSG for the 1.5 TSI. First things first, the Taigun is not the largest of the mid-size SUVs, being slightly shorter and narrower than a Hyundai Creta. While it does not quite have the butch road presence many buyers might associate with an SUV, it looks chic and contemporary.