Volkswagen’s attempts to balance the needs of its domestic market against those of the giants to the East and West have led to a global lineup that’s akin to one of those holographic images that change depending on your viewpoint. Case in point: the next-generation 2025 Tiguan for North America, which is also the second-generation Tayron, depending on where you live. Caught for the first time by intrepid spy photographers, the upcoming model is a seven-seat compact crossover that’s longer than the current European-market Tiguan revealed last year and shorter than the Atlas. VW will will no longer call it the Tiguan Allspace in Europe. Instead, it will borrow a name first used in China to distinguish it from the shorter five-seat vehicle: Tayron.
And if that’s not complicated enough for
you, consider that in addition to the new Tayron pictured here, VW will also
introduce a long-wheelbase version of the new European market Tiguan in China
under the Tiguan L nameplate, as previously disclosed by the Ministry of
Industry and Information Technology. VW’s strategy with the SUV mirrors its
approach to offering the Passat and the Magotan, two similarly-sized sedans, as
well as the ID.7 and ID.7 S electric sedans, from different joint ventures in
China.
To distinguish China’s new Tayron and
North America’s 2025 Tiguan from the also new 2024 Tiguan and Tiguan L, VW
opted for a slightly boxier design with a longer rear overhang and a more
upright tailgate design for the former. Although some areas of the 2025 Tiguan
/ Tayron still feature camouflage in these photos, the third glass panel along
the side of the vehicle appears to be longer than the Tiguan L’s, as does the
rear three-quarter panel. We anticipate that additional differentiating details
will emerge once the grille and tailgate are revealed. While spies weren’t able
to get a glance of the interior, America’s Tiguan will likely feature a similar
cockpit to Europe’s Tiguan, with a large tablet touchscreen and configurable
menu bars supporting both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
We know that the 2025 Tiguan /
Tayron will be based on the MQB evo platform, but some questions remain. It’s
expected that European buyers will be offered a similar lineup of powertrains
as the smaller Tiguan, which includes two PHEVs, diesels, and 1.5-liter
turbocharged mild-hybrid gasoline engines, but that has not yet been confirmed.
Our intelligence suggests that the North American 2025 Tiguan will feature a
2.0-liter turbocharged, four-cylinder engine equipped with 48-volt hybrid
assistance and a mandatory seven-speed dual-clutch transmission in both
front-wheel and all-wheel drive variants. They could also be the first North
American Tiguans to be offered with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Given their
recent popularity, it would seem sensible to offer them.
It’s not yet clear when VW will unveil the
new 2025 Tiguan and Tayron twins, but a company spokesperson has informed us
that we should expect them to go on sale in America as 2025 model year
vehicles, implying that we should see a debut within this year. As for pricing,
the current Tiguan starts from US$ 28,880, so don’t expect anything less than
that, with higher trim levels exceeding the US$ 40,000 mark.
