Frankfurt show: Volkswagen Tiguan sketch outed

SKETCHES and photographs of Volkswagen’s eagerly awaited Tiguan have surfaced just a day before the giant car-maker is set to unveil the finished product in Frankfurt.

A set of images hosted on a US site were allegedly shot by a punter in Vancouver, Canada, who observed the car being photographed in a building car park, while the line sketch has emerged on several European news sites.

With the Frankfurt show kicking off on Tuesday night local time, Volkswagen is hosting an event in the German city Monday night local time, where the car is likely to debut.

The next-generation Tiguan, to be built on an SUV-specific version of VW’s modular MQB architecture, is likely to spawn two additional models over a regulation-sized five-seater.

One will be an extra-long three-row seven-seater designed for the US market, while a coupe-esque four-door – similar to BMW’s X4 – is also mooted.

The seven-seater will be built in Mexico, while the five-seater is likely to be manufactured in Europe. The coupe version is yet to be confirmed.

The engine line-up will feature Volkswagen’s new 2.0-litre EA288 diesel engine range amongst others, while two- and all-wheel-drive versions are likely to be offered. A plug-in hybrid version is also a distinct possibility for European markets, using hardware from both the Passat and Golf lines.

Volkswagen Group Australia public relations manager Kurt McGuiness would not comment specifically on the sketch, but said the Tiguan is an important car in the company’s roster.

“We don’t comment on speculation, but there’s no doubt that the Tiguan has been a success in Australia,” he said. “We’d be very excited to see a new one.”

The Tiguan has been on sale in Australia since 2008, and was heavily refreshed in 2011. It competes in the small SUV category against younger rivals like the Mazda CX-3 and Nissan Qashqai and has notched up 4639 sales so far in 2015.

Hyundai’s outgoing ix35 heads the 2015 leader board with 12,628, with the CX-3 (7130), Qashqai (7109) and Mitsubishi’s ASX (7878) each holding approximately 11 per cent of the sector for 2015.