VW pitching Tiguan as the ‘GTI’ of small SUVs

But can it beat the segment leading Honda CR-V? We’ll find out soon enough when it goes on sales later this month. The 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan will hit dealerships carrying a price tag of $23,840 for the front-wheel-drive with a manual transmission at the end of May. An all-wheel-drive version will follow with a base price of $29,515, about $1,700 more than the Honda CR-V.

Volkswagen is expecting 60 percent of Tiguan units sold to be all-wheel-drive. Volkswagen is hoping to sell 110,000 units of the Tiguan worldwide; 20,000 to 25,000 of which are expected to come from the U.S. alone.

“Clearly, for us to achieve big-volume production, we need to be in a non-European cost base,” Bennett said here at a press event introducing the vehicle. “Tiguan will allow us to establish a foothold in the segment.

Due to its volume and pricing, Volkswagen will be pitching the Tiguan as the GTI of small crossovers. Tiguan comes with the same 2.0 liter 4-cylinder engine that produces 200-hp as the GTI.

Check out this video below of the Tiguan acting like a GTI. The guy seems way too happy behind the wheel.

2009 Volkswagen Tiguan:

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Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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