The Volkswagen Taigun compact SUV arrived in India in the last week of September, and at the time VW had told us that the Taigun had 12,221 bookings pre-launch. The number of bookings (including cars already delivered so far), has now crossed the 16,000 units mark, carandbike has confirmed exclusively. We cannot assume that means an additional 4000 bookings since launch, as many a times, there is some rationalisation of orders that takes place after actual price announcements are absorbed by potential buyers. The Taigun has done well, considering the company's own targets. But when you compare to the likes of the Hyundai Creta or Kia Seltos – and let's not forget the storm created by the over 50,000 bookings the Mahindra XUV700 has taken in – within just two days of its bookings being thrown open – things may not look as blockbuster.
Also Read: Volkswagen Taigun 1.5 GT TSI Review
The Volkswagen Taigun has done well for the company but the other SUVs in the segment have exceptional booking numbers to their credit
Also Read: Volkswagen Virtus Review: 1.0 TSI And 1.5 TSI Automatics Driven
That said, the comparison may be unfair as you have to also consider VW's manufacturing capacity in India. Also consider other facts like shared production with sister model Skoda Kushaq – and this is starting to look like an early success for Volkswagen India. And it is what the company would want, as its India 2.0 revival rests primarily on the Taigun and its future iterations more than the upcoming compact sedan, likely to be named Virtus. That Vento replacement model will arrive only around April 2022 though, so VW India will have its hands full with the Taigun for now anyway.
The Volkswagen Taigun gets only petrol engines, something it shares with the Skoda Kushaq, Renault Duster, Nissan Kicks and the newly launched MG Astor in the segment
The Taigun uses the VW Group's modular platform that is shared with group brands like Skoda in this instance. The MQB A0-IN platform also spawns the Skoda Kushaq, and the soon to be revealed Skoda Scala compact sedan too (sister car to the Virtus). The platform has been modified from the original MQBA0 that the company uses widely across the portfolios of VW, Skoda, Seat, and even Audi. It has a petrol-only India strategy and so it gets two TSI (turbocharged) motors. The 1.0 TSI makes up the car's Performance line-up of variants, while the Dynamic range has the GT models, powered by the 1.5 TSI engine. While the 1.0 has the optional torque-converter automatic transmission, the 1.5 TSI gets the more sophisticated dual-clutch DSG auto. Prices for the Volkswagen Taigun start at Rs. 10.49 lakh and top off at Rs. 17.5 lakh, ex-showroom.
