When the next-generation VW Tiguan is going on sale in South Africa

VW has confirmed that the next-generation Tiguan is expected to “land in South Africa in the first half of 2024.”

Unveiled just yesterday, the market-specific pricing and specifications of the new SUV have not yet been revealed, only what has been improved and changed on it.

Everything new

Inside and out, the new Tiguan received plenty of attention with several new features being standard.

The cabin now boasts the Digital Cockpit driver’s display across the range, a central control panel of up to 15 inches with a new menu structure and graphics, and a more advanced heads-up display.

It further comes with a more comprehensive suite of convenience and assistance abilities including a lane-keep system, lane-change assist, autonomous emergency braking, a rear-view camera, and dynamic road sign display.

Another innovation in the VW is a new rotary controller for the infotainment system with its own integrated “mini screen” that can be used to set the driving profile, radio volume, or background lighting colours.

Furthermore, buyers can now install the ergoActive Plus seats that provide four-way lumbar adjustment and 10-chamber massage functions, as well as a setting for the automatic activation of seat heating or ventilation at certain outside temperatures.

In terms of design, the Tiguan’s fresh face was undoubtedly inspired by the look of VW’s ID. electric cars, incorporating flattened LED headlights, a glass-covered strip on the nose, a larger grille with air openings in the bumper edges, side air curtains, a more pronounced shoulder line, a new LED lightbar on the tailgate, and redesigned alloy wheels up to 20 inches.

For the first time, the SUV can optionally be equipped with the IQ.Light HD Matrix headlights with 19,200 multipixel LEDs per cluster, which was previously only available on the flagship Touareg.

The body is also three centimetres longer whereas the height, width, and wheelbase remained “practically identical” to the outgoing model, resulting in the next-gen SUV providing 37 litres more cargo space in the boot for a total of 652 litres.

VW confirmed that the new Tiguan will luckily still be offered with a range of powertrains including turbo-diesel (TDI), turbo-petrol (TSI), mild-hybrid (eTSI), and plug-in hybrid (eHybrid) – all of which will be paired exclusively to an automatic transmission – as well as in two-wheel and four-wheel drive.

The current-generation Tiguan in South Africa is sold with one TDI and three TSI drivelines, the diesel generating 130kW and 380Nm, and the petrols anywhere between 110-235kW and 250-400Nm.

With the German brand shifting much of its focus away from fossil fuels to electric mobility in recent years, we expect the oil-burning engines to change very little in terms of output and performance – akin to how the eighth-generation Golf GTI has virtually the exact same power unit as the seventh generation with the exception of an 11kW bump in power.

The new SUV also supplies more stable, agile, and precise handling courtesy of a sharpened adaptive chassis control programme and a new Vehicle Dynamics Manager taken straight out of the GTI and adapted to the Tiguan, which electronically controls the functions of the differential locks and the lateral dynamics components to best suit the situation at hand.

The South Africa-specific features, engines, and model line-up of the new VW Tiguan will be revealed closer to its launch date in the first half of 2024.