We’ve heard the rumors, but now we have some hard facts direct from VW. Next year’s replacement for the North American Tiguan Allspace will definitely be based on the (next-gen) Chinese-market Tayron SUV, a VW America spokesperson has confirmed to Carscoops.
Volkswagen says the 2025 U.S. model will maintain the Tiguan name so as not to confuse buyers, but it won’t be simply a stretched version of the new European-market Tiguan that the company revealed this week. The Euro model switches to the latest MQB evo platform that’s also used on cars like the Mk8 Golf, Audi A3 and Skoda Superb.
Satisfying America’s demands for a bigger SUV than Europe calls for has been handled over the past few years by offering the Tiguan with two different wheelbase lengths. In Europe, both versions were made available: the five-seat-only Tiguan and the longer Tiguan Allspace with three rows of seats. North America skipped the SWB model and only got the stretched Allspace, giving buyers the choice of two or three rows of chairs.
Related: Europe’s 2024 VW Tiguan Splits From U.S. Model, PHEV Offers 62 Electric-Mile Range
While Volkswagen in Europe has yet to reply to our email asking it if European buyers will also be offered this new Tayron-based SUV as a replacement for its seven-seat Tiguan Allspace, that would tally with a report from Autocar saying as much and citing a VW source.
“We will extend our existing SUV line-up on a global basis with the second-generation Tayron, which is already under development and will go on sale by the middle of the decade,” Karl-Heinz Hell, head of engineering for Volkswagen’s mid-to-full-size models, told the magazine earlier this summer.
The current Tayron is available in both coupe and conventional SUV forms and a 107.5-inch (2,731 mm) wheelbase makes it roughly the same size as the current Allspace. But the next generation car – which will adopt the latest MQB evo platform, just like the Tiguan – will reportedly grow larger.
Intel suggests the U.S. versions will feature a 2.0-liter turbocharged, four-cylinder engine fitted with 48-volt hybrid assistance and a compulsory seven-speed dual clutch transmission. They could also be the first North American Tiguans to be offered with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. The new European-spec Tiguan PHEVs, which combine a 1.5-liter gasoline engine, electric motor and 19.7 kWh battery for up to 268 hp (272 PS), are capable of traveling up to 62 miles (100 km) on battery power in WLTP tests.