The VW Taos is the cheaper-for-America alternative to the rest of the world's regular-size Tiguan

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 10/13/2020 at 19:23 • Filed to: None

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The VW Taos is their new “subcompact” crossover that’s slotting in below the Tiguan. It is pretty much exactly what you’d expect out of a VW crossover smaller than the Tiguan. But, the Taos is far from the only smaller-than-Tiguan crossover that VW makes. It’s just the only one VW has decided to grace ‘Murrica with.

The vehicle sold in the USA as the VW Tiguan is actually called the Tiguan Allspace in the rest of the world. Our “compact” Tiguan is a full 185" long, which is at the very top end of the segment and borderline midsize. The regular Tiguan is 177" long instead, which is still safely in the compact segment.

Tiguan (Allspace):

Tiguan (rest of world):

Seeing both versions of the Tiguan in side profile you realize, wait a sec, the big one has crazy long back doors like Chinese-market stretched versions of regular sedans. But hey, it’s big for its segment in the US!

In the rest of the world, below the regular-size Tiguan, you have the T-Roc at 167" long, and the T-Cross at 162".

But...none of that’s coming to America.

Instead, we get the 176" long Taos. Which is suspiciously close in dimensions to the rest of the world’s Tiguan, and not exactly a subcompact, seeing as it’s the exact same size as the compact Hyundai Tucson and only a couple inches smaller than the Mazda CX-5.

So, why the hell does America get the Taos that’s within an inch of the already-existing regular Tiguan sold in the rest of the world? Profit margins. VW is playing the supersize-iest-crossover-for-your-money game in America. The Atlas and Tiguan (Allspace) are both very big for their respective segments, and give you a lot of equipment, but their interiors are somewhat of a letdown in quality compared to VW’s reputation for having such wonderful interior plastics compared to other mainstream brands, that VW hea ds will caress and sniff and frequently remind you that these plastics make their GTI feel so premium compared to other cars.

The regular Tiguan is sold in plenty of developing markets like India and Indonesia, but for North America, VW decided they needed to squeeze more sweet sweet margins out of whatever smaller-than-Tiguan (Allspace) car they eventually brought here. Enter the Taos. It’s on the same MQB platform as the Tiguan, it has some good tech on offer, and it’s cheaper to manufacture—in Mexico—than the Tiguan. It fits perfectly with VW’s strategy for crossovers in America.

Nothing about the Taos is especially interesting, but it does have a slightly quirky 1.5 liter turbo motor that runs a modified version of the Miller cycle for increased efficiency, and makes 158 hp and 184 lb/ft. The front-wheel drive version gets an 8-speed traditional torque converter automatic and twist beam rear suspension, while the all-wheel drive version uses a 7-speed DCT and upgrades the rear suspension to a multilink setup.

Otherwise, it’s a reasonably roomy box on wheels that has just enough good VW screens in it to seem premium even if it’s clearly made with cost-cutting and profit margins in mind.

I’m sure VW will sell a boatload of them.

Amoore100 > Textured Soy Protein 10/13/2020 at 19:41

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Automakers need to get over this whole centering the badge thing. This looks like trash:

Volvo didn’t even start centering the “VOLVO” badge until way into the 2000's—there’s nothing wrong with asymmetric badges !

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Textured Soy Protein 10/13/2020 at 19:42

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Is VW not using the 1.4t in the US Jetta and Golf anymore? Seems weird to not have consistency across the product line.

If it’s priced well and optioned well (ie: I can get in one whose interior doesn’t suck and has leather/heated & cooled memory seats for less than $35k) it may be a contender. 

Jb boin > Textured Soy Protein 10/13/2020 at 19:44

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I realized after reading the whole thing that i wasn’t on Jalopnik !

Interesting, probably like the Nissan Kicks<>Juke : Blander and cheaper.

Amoore100 > Jb boin 10/13/2020 at 19:54

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Proportionally it’s interesting too. The Kicks and Taos vs. Juke and T-Roc are similar in their designs and stances, i.e. low and wide:

vs tall and slab-sided:

Jb boin > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 10/13/2020 at 20:04

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If it’s the same engine as in E urope, the 1.5 TSI ( EA211 EVO ) is an evolution of the 1.4 (EA211) .

I am actually surprised to see the same engine family but in Europe it seems to be limited to ~150hp while it’s 158 in the US .

Jb boin > Jb boin 10/13/2020 at 20:08

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Well...

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Amoore100 10/13/2020 at 20:13

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I think VW has always centered their badges where they used the roundel style. I wouldn't mind a Volkswagen script off to the side on a slightly retro influenced design. 

Textured Soy Protein > Jb boin 10/13/2020 at 20:16

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With regard to the Taos I appear to be more irreverent and less disappointed than Bradley. 

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Textured Soy Protein 10/13/2020 at 20:21

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Oh. Look...yet another bland-as-crap boring crossover...

Textured Soy Protein > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 10/13/2020 at 20:32

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The 1.5t quasi-Miller cycle is going to gradually replace the 1.4t across the board.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a34274367/2022-vw-taos-prototype-drive/

I went down a nearly identical seat rabbit hole as you described recently, while thinking about my wife’s next car. The memory is the kicker.

The choices are only the Kia Niro Touring, or the Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring Reserve & Signature. Tho se are the 2.5t trims. The CX-30 Premium is the current top 2.5 NA trim and does have memory but doesn’t have ventilation. Higher 2.5t trims are coming for 2021 so maybe they’ll get ventilation.

She has a lower trim CX-5 now and wants something smaller. As much as a hypothetical CX-30 2.5t with those options appeals to my inner gearhead, w e’re probably getting the Niro.

The Hyundai Tucson Ultimate and Kia Sportage SX have ventilated seats but no memory . The CR-V Touring and Tiguan SEL Premium have  memory but no ventilation.

Textured Soy Protein > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/13/2020 at 20:33

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I think the complaint here is that the Taos name badge is centered.

But...the trim level badge on the left and 4Motion badge on the right make for decent symmetry. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Textured Soy Protein 10/13/2020 at 20:51

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It might work better with a longer nameplate and with the letters spaced out more. Looks a little weird with a compressed font on a short word.

Pronounced “t ay-oss ” or “ towse?”

not for canada - australian in disguise > Textured Soy Protein 10/13/2020 at 20:53

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Interesting to note, the long rear doors and extended-looking body are most definitely because it’s based on the Chinese-market Tharu. Just a little updated and reworked, but keeping the Chinese length.

Why the fuck VW need so many different cars that fulfill the same purpose for different markets , I will never know. It seems like just yesterday manufacturers were consolidating their lineups and creating “world cars”. Especially baffling when VW have been in dire financial straits and have had to cut costs like mad, leading to lower quality fit and finish in cars like the new Golf. Couldn’t they, I don’t know, make only one  compact crossover for the entire world and use the money they save to make their cars out of something other than paper mache? Crazy idea, I know.

Textured Soy Protein > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/13/2020 at 20:56

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FWIW the new Aston Vantage is irking some/many folks with its ASTON MARTIN lettering centered below the rear emblem. It looks fine enough to me but the purists are all “it shouldn’t need to say Aston Martin in readable letters, people should be able to tell it’s an Aston from looking at the shape and/or squinting at the tiny Aston Martin lettering in the emblem!”

I believe it’s TAH-oh s.

Textured Soy Protein > not for canada - australian in disguise 10/13/2020 at 21:06

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Funny, the Taos looks like nothing if not a short wheelbase version of the Tharu. The styling is bang on, kinda like the short and long versions of the Tiguan.

The US market is weird, everybody wants crossovers but especially in the cheaper segments the profit margins are only slightly better than the small cars that the small crossovers are starting to annihilate.

In the past, VW’s “world” cars tended to be slightly nicer than other mainstream brands but priced well above them. They’re trying where they can to price their cars as closely as possible to the other mainstream brands while offering the screens & features new car buyers are apparently clamoring for. So they find other ways to cut costs, like this.

I could see VW bringing one of the T-Roc or T-Cross to the US. Some brands are playing with multiple subcompact entries, i.e. Hyundai Kona & Venue, Kia Seltos & Soul, Mazda CX-30 & CX-3, Nissan Rogue Sport & Kicks. Some of those like the Seltos & Rogue Sport aren’t quite subcompacts, more like on the small end of compact now that the big compacts are so big, and the Taos is bigger than all of them. I’m sure the T-Cross is much cheaper for VW to make than the T-Roc, but it’s friggin tiny for the US market.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Textured Soy Protein 10/13/2020 at 21:13

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Outback Limited and Touring have what I want. I’m an original Subie adopter but haven’t been thrilled with their recent reliability. Might take the plunge again, though.   

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Textured Soy Protein 10/13/2020 at 21:14

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Because I pronounced the Eos like “eee-oss.” I think I’d probably call it the “tay-oss” IRL.

That Aston s cript looks stupid there. It's tiny and inset into a very large bumper. 

Textured Soy Protein > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 10/13/2020 at 21:19

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Oh hey lookie there you’re right. I hadn’t bothered to check on it in my rabbit hole based on size. Although it looks like both those trims have memory but only the Touring has ventilation.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Textured Soy Protein 10/13/2020 at 21:32

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Correct. But also football colored leather!  It’s worth the $2k-ish upgrade, I think, because it also comes with power folding mirrors. It’s probably bigger than you’re looking for but Subarus tend to have short hoods, which makes them feel less large. 

Textured Soy Protein > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 10/13/2020 at 21:40

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She had an Impreza hatch before her CX-5, and she wants something smaller than the CX-5. Her main complaint with it is squeezing it into our small-ish 1-car garage. There’s not a ton of storage space in our townhouse so what little extra space exists in the garage is also storage. It’s not very wide and we have trash/recycling bins and a shelf on the left, and some boxes over to the right.

It’s really not that bad, but I’m better than her at placing the passenger side of whichever car we’re putting in there as far over to the right as possible . Try as I might to get her to practice that same technique, she just doesn’t cut it as close as I do .

T he Outback is like a foot longer than the CX-5 so even with probably- better forward sightlines, the length is a non-starter for her.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Textured Soy Protein 10/13/2020 at 22:36

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We get both Tiguans, T-Roc, T-Cross and the Golf Alltrack to boot here in Oz . Clearly VW USA is going with the made in China/assembled in Mexico model for your not-a-Tiguan to try a make a margin whilst still selling vehicles.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/13/2020 at 23:54

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VW has said that it is named after Taos, NM and the press photos certainly look like they could’ve been taken somewhere in Taos County. As someone who lives an hour away from Taos, I can tell you that everyone here pronounces it so that it rhymes with house, but it’s a car name so pronounce it however you want.  One of my friends calls her Impreza an “Impressiva” and I’m not going to tell her it’s not.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2020 at 00:03

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My wife has always had trouble judging where the passenger side of whatever car she is driving is. She has never really completely  gotten used to the width of our Outback after 7 years now (and don’t even get me started on our truck ). One thing that helped with the parking it in our tight garage   is hanging a tennis ball so it is dead center with the steering wheel and just touches the windshield when the car is far enough forward. Just aim for the ball and boom the car is perfect.  Have you tried anything like that?

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2020 at 00:08

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I find it mind blowing that my 8 year old Ford pickup has heated/cooled memory seats + pedals + mirrors tied to the key fob (unlock it and they start moving into place) that came as part of a stand-alone $3k luxury  package (that also had some other goodies like an upgraded stereo and power folding mirrors) and even the top trims of all these crossovers still don’t match it. 

Textured Soy Protein > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 10/14/2020 at 00:09

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Lol this is a good idea, I haven’t and even if I wanted to now I’m on crutches rehabbing a blown achilles so in no shape to make that happen 

Textured Soy Protein > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 10/14/2020 at 00:24

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Hell my old 2005 Grand Cherokee with many electrical gremlins had all that except for cooled and I can excuse that for being an 05. I dunno why a simple thing like seat memory is the one nitpicky little car feature that mainstream brands are still consistently leaving out of their increasingly fancy (with some evident cost cutting) cars. 

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2020 at 00:30

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All I can figure is it must be one thing that they can claim is a “luxury” feature to separate out their highest trims or hold back for their luxury brands (e.g. Nissan might only offer it in the Infiniti version or something) and for whatever reason consumers aren’t demanding it as a mainstream feature. Maybe because all the mainstream brands are holding it back. It’s confusing to me because I really don’t get the point of power seats without memory. Our Outback has a power driver seat with no memory and it is so tiring spending 15 seconds waiting for seat to slowly move back far enough for me to fit inside when I can just slam the manual seat in my Forester back into place in 2 seconds.   Also auto down windows that aren’t also auto up need to die as well. 

Kar Wai Wong > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2020 at 05:20

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If they’re annoyed with that, than I wonder what do they think about the DBS Superleggera?

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 10/14/2020 at 08:29

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Hehehehe, we all have done something like that at some point. I used to think the Veloster was called the Velo-star.

I think I'll stick with "tay-oss."

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Kar Wai Wong 10/14/2020 at 08:30

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Its a wider script that fills the space better but I still don't like it.

arl > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2020 at 08:51

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I like the design. I t’s a good looking little box.

I wonder if the motor will have the horribly annoying auto-stop/start ? My wife and I have a rental Jeep Compass for a few weeks . It has auto stop/start and it’s the worst thing in the world. I can’t imagine buying a vehicle that has that feature (unless it can be quickly disabled via a button on the dash).

adamftw > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2020 at 08:54

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My wife has a 2018 Tiguan SE AWD and if it had the GTI motor and DCT it would literally be the perfect “do it all” vehicle. The extra roomy backseat is extraordinary.

Jb boin > not for canada - australian in disguise 10/14/2020 at 10:21

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European cars need to be as efficient as possible as the gas is expensive and the regulations are getting very restrictive on the CO2 so European cars are usually trying to be lighter and with better aero which costs more and we need smaller cars on the outside with as much space inside as possible .

—

For example the Peugeot 508L that is the “long” version for China doesn’t have the led rear lights and frameless windows of the European version and uses an “older” version of the engine that is compliant to a previous EURO regulation (and thus cost less to produce) and the 6 speed auto instead of the 8 speed that replaced it 3 or 4 years ago in Europe.

Thomas Donohue > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2020 at 10:44

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It looks like t he Taos will be based on the MQB A 1 platform, like the Tharu and T-ROC . It won’t be the RoW Tiguan which is on the MQB A2.

Tripper > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2020 at 13:52

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That blue though. Pretty sure the sales people at VW don’t actually know that VW makes any cars besides the Tiguan/Atlas. Wonder what training will be like.

Textured Soy Protein > Thomas Donohue 10/14/2020 at 14:14

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Makes sense they would go for the cheaper option for the Taos.

If anything I’m surprised we get the actual Tiguan Allspace as our Tiguan instead of the Tharu.

I do think the Taos makes a lot of sense for VW’s strategy in the US. It allows them to slot a bigger vehicle into a cheaper segment vs smaller competitors, and it s basic blocky styling makes the Tiguan (Allspace) look premium in comparison.

None of this is exciting, but it makes sense.

Textured Soy Protein > arl 10/14/2020 at 14:21

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Apparently at least in some markets the 1.5 liter Tiguan (which I think is a slightly different 1.5 motor but I’m not sure) has start-stop. No official word yet on whether it will be present in the Taos. C&D did a test drive of a prototype Taos and they didn’t mention any auto start-stop, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not there.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a34274367/2022-vw-taos-prototype-drive/

I think some auto start stop systems are better or worse than others. My only exposure to it was several years ago, in a rental previous generation Chevy Malibu where it was fairly annoying.

But, it’s my understanding that other systems in other cars can be less annoying. If I were to guess, FCA’s level of expertise at making start-stop probably falls on the more annoying end of the spectrum.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Textured Soy Protein 10/14/2020 at 14:39

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Are truck nutz a dealer option?

Thomas Donohue > Textured Soy Protein 10/15/2020 at 09:04

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I just wish they made a US Tiguan with a better engine. I really like everything about it, but I’ve got a V8 Touareg and the current 184 HP Turbo4 just doesn’t cut it. They should put a GTI-tuned engine in it at least.

Current Tig has 184HP/221TQ and the GTI has 228/258.

Textured Soy Protein > Thomas Donohue 10/15/2020 at 09:20

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I think at this point VW is happy to leave the more powerful engines in crossovers to Audi and Porsche, at least in the US.

Thomas Donohue > Textured Soy Protein 10/15/2020 at 09:48

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Good point.....the base Macan has that engine tuned to 248/273.

But the Tig R in Europe has 315hp! Even the Euro PHEV model has 241. If the 2022 US lineup has the PHEV in the US that would be nice.