The Volkswagen Taigun midsize SUV, launched on September 23, 2021, has turned three years old today in the Indian market. As per SIAM wholesales data, the Taigun has sold a total of 67,140 units in the domestic market till end-August 2024 and 32,742 units have been shipped to overseas markets (see data table below).
Given that the combined domestic and export sales add up to 99,882 units, the remaining 118 units to the cumulative 100,000 sales milestone would have been achieved in the first few days of September 2024.
The Volkswagen Taigun is the first product offering by the brand in the midsize SUV segment, developed on the globally acclaimed MQB A0 IN platform under the strategic India 2.0 project with a localisation level of up to 95 percent at launch.
The Taigun, which is the sister SUV to the Skoda Kushaq under the India 2.0 project, is part of the growing midsize SUV market in India which includes models like the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Honda Elevate and the Toyota Hyryder among others. It is offered only with petrol engines – a 115hp 1.0 TSI turbo-petrol engine (115hp and 175 Nm torue) or a 150hp 1.5 TSI (150hp and 250 Nm torque), both of which get manual and automatic options. Pricing for the 21-variant Taigun starts at Rs 13.84 lakh (on-road Delhi) for the 1.0 Comfortline base variant and goes up to Rs 23.44 lakh for the top-end 1.5 GT Edge Sport DCT Mate.
Autocar India’s buyer’s guide commentary for the Taigun states: “Volkswagen’s midsize SUV offers chic looks, a favourable interior and good build quality. The 1.0 TSI and 1.5 TSI turbo-petrol engines are punchy and the dynamics help increase appeal to keen drivers. As for negatives, space for five is tight, there are signs of cost-cutting and it misses some features.”
A little over a year after its launch, the Volkswagen Taigun aced the Global NCAP crash test with a top five-star rating as did the Skoda Kushaq. Both SUVs achieved the highest 5-star rating for both adult and child occupant protection. The strong results affirmed the Skoda Auto Volkswagen Group’s India 2.0 project strategy to build cars of European quality standards for the domestic and export markets. In June 2024, Volkswagen India further enhanced the Taigun’s safety quotient by making six airbags standard fitment in the midsize SUV.
Earlier this month, to kick off the festive season, Volkswagen Passenger Car India announced Volksfest 2024 with attractive offers across the product range comprising the Taigun, Virtus sedan and Tiguan SUV for one-and-a-half-month period starting from September 14, 2024 till October 31, 2024.
