Volkswagen Taigun Completes 2 Years In India, Here’s How Things Stand Now

The Volkswagen compact SUV has gotten more expensive by up to Rs 1.56 lakh, and now has more variants and editions to pick from

Two years ago, on September 23, 2021, the Volkswagen Taigun was launched in our market as a competitor to the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos. It serves as the entry-level SUV offering from Volkswagen India, while now being the carmaker’s star product after the axing of the Polo hatchback. We covered the first year recap of the SUV in September 2022, so now let’s see what’s changed since then:

Price Revisions

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Compared to its launch price, the Taigun’s current starting price has gone up by over Rs 1 lakh. Even its top-spec variants in both Dynamic and Performance Lines, namely the Topline and GT, the Volkswagen Taigun petrol manual variants become more expensive by up to Rs 1.27 lakh.

In the last one year, the carmaker brought out a few new variants of the compact SUV as well by offering the top-spec GT Plus with a manual shifter, and limited editions in the form of ‘GT Plus Edge’ and ‘GT Plus Edge Matte.’ These gave the SUV’s range-topping GT trim more features and cosmetic upgrades.

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Volkswagen, over the last one year, made the DCT option more accessible by introducing it on the GT variant along with a couple of limited editions as well in the SUV’s automatic lineup. The Taigun’s petrol-auto combination, depending on the variant chosen, has become costlier by over Rs 1 lakh since its launch.

Also Read: Third-generation Volkswagen Tiguan Breaks Cover

Features Rejig

Although Volkswagen hasn’t added any new features to the SUV’s equipment list, it did give the car a features rejig back in early 2023. The carmaker introduced LED headlights with auto coming/leaving home lights on the 1-litre Highline and 1.5-litre GT variants. It was previously available only on the top-spec 1-litre Topline and 1.5-litre GT Plus variants.

That said, the Volkswagen SUV still packs a 10.1-inch touchscreen system, ventilated front seats, a single-pane sunroof, an 8-inch digital driver’s display and cruise control. Its safety net is backed by up to six airbags, ISOFIX child seat anchorages, a reversing camera and electronic stability control (ESC).

Top Scores In Two Crash Tests

The Volkswagen Taigun, along with the Skoda Kushaq, became the first set of made-in-India cars to be tested by the updated Global NCAP assessments in October 2022. Volkswagen’s compact SUV achieved five stars in both adult and child occupant protection, even though it was tested in its most basic safety-spec version.

In July 2023, the made-in-India SUV was also put through the stricter Latin NCAP crash tests and scored a 5-star rating from there as well. While almost all the equipment on the Latin-spec model is almost the same as its Indian counterpart, it gets six airbags and optional autonomous emergency braking, which is not offered on the India-spec model.

Is It A Popular SUV?

With Volkswagen India’s portfolio now consisting of only three models, including the Taigun, the SUV is somewhat popular. Its average 6-month sales hover around 1,700 units, with August having closed at 1,943 models sold. Its market share of the segment is a little over 3 percent, which is not high volume, but the demand seems somewhat consistent.

Any Updates Coming?

While the Volkswagen Taigun got a host of updates over the last year, there’s already a facelift for one of its International cousins with minor cosmetic tweaks and feature updates. Given the SUV is now in its third year, we could see an India-specific facelift arrive by the end of 2024.

Read More on : Taigun Automatic