► New VW Tiguan announced
► First VW to use the MQB platform
► Here are the older VW SUVs
The people’s posh crossover: Tiguan Mk2
Second-gen Tiguan becomes the first VW Group SUV to use the MQB platform, resulting in a 50kg weight reduction, a 24% increase in claimed efficiency, and a much bigger boot (up 145 litres to 615 without folding the seats). It even looks less anonymous. Though that’s hardly saying much.
The people’s Porsche Cayenne: Touareg (Mk1 2002-2010)
VW’s first proper SUV is best known for being the non-identical twin of the Porsche Cayenne, and offering an improbable 5.0 V10 TDI engine option. With up to 345bhp and 627lb ft, it could – and once did – tow a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.
The people’s Audi Allroad: Golf Country (1989-1991)
Think the trend for jacked-up family cars is new? Back in 1989, VW showed an off-road Golf concept called the Montana. In 1990 it turned to Steyr to put it into production as the Country, adding 438 parts to the existing 4wd Golf Syncro.
The people’s armoured car: Type 183 ‘Iltis’ (1978-1988)
We could go back to the VW Kommandeurwagen, a 4wd Beetle from 1941, but the Iltis (Polecat) is a bit more contemporary, being a boxy off-roader built for the military. It also donated its 4wd system to the original Audi Quattro. A legend, then.