7 million units! Forced to compete with the Japanese Qashqai, why can the Volkswagen "compromise" Tiguan?
Jasper
In recent years, China's own automobile market has developed very rapidly, and new forces and old car companies have made efforts to create countless models, and also created a lot of popular models such as Wuling MINI EV and Ideal ONE, but it has always been almost meaningless in continuing to be popular and going global.
So far, the Volkswagen Tiguan has sold more than 7 million units worldwide since its official launch in 2007, and although the car itself is made in Germany, it did not conform to the urine of Europeans at all at the beginning. In the European environment around 2005, everyone's understanding of cars was very simple, either large off-road or small sedans, station wagons were an exception, but they also fit their aesthetics. For SUVs, Land Rover and Touareg sell very well, but there is always a real problem, the roads in Europe are really too small, and it is inconvenient to drive and park while loading capacity.
Europeans' brains are easy to tendon, as if they only know how to enlarge or add a big ass in equal proportions when building a car, but they never thought about raising the car high, but the Japanese are witty, and the advent of the compact SUV Qashqai has opened the eyes of all Europeans, and it turns out that cars can still play like this. Europeans have not only opened their blue eyes wide, but have found it too much for their needs.
Volkswagen, of course, is a person who wants face and money, such a good market can not let Qashqai occupy all, so in 2006 Volkswagen showed the world their first idea - Concept A, as its first crossover concept product, Volkswagen's shot is very atmospheric, this concept car is equipped with a 4motion four-wheel drive system and a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission, and Qashqai's main urban functionality is different, Concept A is really a low-profile version of the Touareg.
While it was easy for the Qashqai to be loved by Europeans, the Concept A seemed to be even easier, and Volkswagen struck while the iron was hot at the Los Angeles Auto Show at the end of 2006, when the Tiguan concept car was officially unveiled. The name Tiguan is very interesting, the English Tiguan is derived from the combination of a tiger and an iguana, and the name can also see the hope given by the public, the power of the tiger with the body shape of the iguana. Fast forward and in September 2007 the first Volkswagen Tiguan was unveiled in Frankfurt.
The initial Tiguan design was a bit awkward, and the designers felt that more brain cells might be used in the design of the concept car, but in the production version, the CC design language was directly applied, and in the interior part, except for the round air vents in the center console, the rest are also Golf templates. As for the power, the 2.0T and 1.4T gasoline engines and the 2.0T diesel engine are all mated to a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission, and the configuration of the petrol version has also become an evergreen in the Tiguan model. For consumers at the time, this configuration was eye-catching, because it was the world's first fully turbocharged SUV, and Volkswagen's reason for doing so was simple - to promote its own TSI + DSG golden power combination.
And because the launch of the Qashqai a few steps late, in the configuration of the Tiguan can only be more attentive, the only level of openable panoramic sunroof, the same level of almost no four-wheel drive system are leading to the upper shang, of course, the result of this is satisfactory to everyone, the market quickly gave good feedback, maybe the world is sad only Qashqai.
In 2009, Volkswagen Tiguan entered the Chinese market as an imported car, all equipped with four-wheel drive and automatic parking and other functions, but the price of 400,000 landed even real rich brothers rarely start, but this did not delay the Chinese like Tiguan, so at the 2009 Guangzhou Auto Show, SAIC Volkswagen announced "This project, I Wang Duoyu voted!"
Tiguan itself is a model produced to cater to the market, after SAIC Volkswagen announced the domestic production, in order to better cater to the physique of Chinese babies, the first generation of the domestic version of SAIC Volkswagen also lengthened the wheelbase by 80mm, and added an off-white interior, at the same time, the domestic Tiguan in order to cater to more urbanization needs to cut a lot of approach and departure angles, it looks a lot of home. As for the power, the 1.8T and 2.0T versions of the engine were placed in the Chinese automobile market at that time, and the meaning of their representation was two words: "performance".
The first-generation domestic version of the Tiguan perfectly caught up with the window of SUV outbreak, not only the monthly sales can reach a terrifying 10,000 or 20,000 units, but also the legend of a price increase of 50,000, you must know that it was only 2010. Later, SAIC Volkswagen's business brain was more open, and the addition of 1.4T configuration broadened the price range, and the acceptable crowd was wider, after all, if you don't drive it, who knows whether this car is 1.4T or 2.0T in the stomach?
In 2015, at the motor show in Frankfurt, the Volkswagen Group unveiled the second-generation Volkswagen Tiguan, and the MQB platform has been developed and matured within Volkswagen. And on the second-generation Tiguan, Volkswagen finally figured out how to play this compact SUV, and the answer is simple: the needs of the Chinese are the needs of the good.
The wheelbase and size of the Tiguan that have been lengthened are selling very well in the Chinese market, so this time they are all lengthened, the overall size is directly enlarged, the wheelbase is longer by 77mm, and then a long-axis version of the Tiguan is provided, the wheelbase is directly elongated by 110mm, and later this has become our common Tiguan L, and even a 7-seat version can be provided. At this point, Tiguan's competitor is no longer a small Qashqai, but a hybrid martial arts master who can punch a mid-size SUV.
What's more, SAIC Volkswagen misses the traces of Tiguan's ancestors a little, looking at the beautiful big butt of the Concept A, it is a little unsightly, and on the basis of the Tiguan L, a coupe version of the Tiguan X has been created.
Speaking of which, in fact, Tiguan has no story in his life so far, throughout the entire development of Tiguan, born in the strong market with Japan, thriving and the freshness of the market vacant models, and the ultimate brilliance is due to the demand of the Chinese market. Even today, even in the booming environment of China's local compact SUVs, the Tiguan can still quietly sell more than 10,000 units a month, which is enough to prove that this is a good car recognized by the market, even if it lacks a lot of Volkswagen's original intentions and is just a machine that serves profits.
In the coming year, the latest 2024 Tiguan will also be launched, it is reported that it will be equipped with a new generation of Volkswagen's digital cockpit, which is still mainly in the form of traditional fuel, and mild-hybrid plug-in hybrid models are also reflected, but whether it can continue to achieve explosive models, at least in the Chinese market, it is difficult to predict. However, the Tiguan is like a "How to Build a Popular Model Manual" written by Volkswagen, and the opportunities it faces and the adjustments it makes are still worth learning from every car company.
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