We saw hints of it in Europe, now we’re seeing it in China, and soon enough we’ll see it here in the U.S.: it’s the updated face of the hot-selling Volkswagen Tiguan—just marketed as the Tayron elsewhere. Here’s what we can expect based on the latest information from the Chinese Ministry of Technology’s updated details, and a bit of an official word on what’s-what from the German automaker itself.
The Volkswagen Tiguan Is Based On the Tayron L
Both the Chinese VW Tayron L and U.S. VW Tiguan SUVs are based on the automaker’s MQB Evo vehicle architecture, with the updated Tayron L model measuring in with a wheelbase of 109.9 inches, and is 184.4 inches long, 73 inches wide, and 66.3 inches tall overall; the R-Line trim stretches to a total length of 184.8 inches due to its special bumpers.
That would mean that the wheelbase hasn’t changed for the U.S. Tiguan compared to the current model year; however, the other dimensions have grown slightly, if things do carry over mostly directly from China to the U.S. VW previously reported additional interior cargo volume of 1.17 cubic feet for the upcoming 2025 model year.
Update, October 9, 2024
VW confirmed in a statement some important similarities and differences: “The global reveal for the European Volkswagen Tayron is today, October 9th. While this model is widely reported to represent the next version of the Tiguan for the U.S. market, be advised that while the U.S. Tiguan will receive the long-wheelbase setup of this model, the sheetmetal, powertrain options and equipment set will differ markedly. More details about the U.S. Tiguan offer will be forthcoming later this year.” The article continues as originally written based on Chinese and Euro model details below.
Potential Updated Volkswagen Tiguan SUV Design
As for the actual designed updated models, gone is the previous model’s headlight brow notch for a cleaner smooth new look, with lower-trim models getting a boxy black grille and more premium R-Line models getting a wider grin with integrated lower lighting.
The R-Line also appears to get a black roofline paint job that the other trims don’t, or it could be an additional package considering there are two R-Line nose treatments, one with a lower black piece to match the roof. Moreover, there are two new all-black wheel designs and one black with metal highlights that could also help complete a certain look. At the rear is a new full lightbar treatment. It’s also likely the badges could light up on U.S. models.
2025 VW Tiguan Power
In China, the updated 2025 VW Tayron L model gets a choice of three turbocharged gas engines: the 1.5-liter makes 158 hp, and the 2.0-liter comes in 184 hp and 217 hp outputs. However, as previously hinted at by VW and reported by MotorTrend, the U.S. VW Tiguan is expected to go hybrid, at least optionally. Consequently, we could potentially get a mild hybrid setup as well as a plug-in hybrid setup. VW has quoted up to 62 miles of all-electric range on its plug-in hybrid models on this platform for the 2025 model year, so we expect similar performance on the updated Tiguan.
