Much like everyone else in the automotive industry, the Volkswagen Group launched a slew of SUVs in recent years to satisfy the ever-increasing demand.
Across its mainstream, premium and luxury brands, the automaker has offerings in all sizes aimed at all types of customers. There’s – inevitably – some overlapping, though, and nowhere is that more obvious than in one of the most competitive segments: that of mainstream compact SUVs that can be optionally be fitted with seven seats.
The VW Group offers three such models from three different brands. VW has the Tiguan Allspace, Skoda the Kodiaq, and Seat the Tarraco, all of which share their platform and most oily bits, but have their unique design (and pricing). The Seat was the last one to launch, which is why Carwow just got its hands on one.
Also Watch: The Tarraco Is A Restyled Skoda Kodiaq With Seat Badges – And That’s A Good Thing
Obviously, the Tarraco is every bit as practical as the Kodiaq and Tiguan Allspace – which is a lot. However, its build quality falls short of expectations, as the Spanish SUV (which is made in Germany, by the way) gets slightly cheaper looking materials inside compared to its siblings. Plus, the fit and finish are not as good as in the other two, although that could be an issue limited to this particular test vehicle.
As for driving impressions, the Tarraco offers a comfortable ride and can be a bit sporty in the right configuration, though not as sporty as a Leon, obviously. The reviewer says the Tiguan Allspace offers a slightly better ride quality but, overall, choosing between the Tarraco, Kodiaq and Tiguan Allspace is very much a design- , brand- and price-related matter, because they offer pretty much the same things with small variations.