Photo: Volkswagen AG
Recently announced for the North American market, Volkswagen’s latest model – Taos – is shaping up as a great argument to support the popularity of the compact crossover segment. While in the U.S. it will be the brand’s smallest SUV, its length is still greater than of its European counterparts – the T-Cross and T-Roc. No worries, because the successful MQB architecture has already proven time and again its modularity.
Because Volkswagen finally understood that a key to unlocking the U.S. market has to do with locally developed exclusive products, its many facilities from the North American region (seven of them between the States and Mexico) are just about ready to reveal their latest development.
We are talking about the newest addition to the SUV lineup, of course, the Taos. It has been prepared to become the base offering in the high-riding range, being slotted underneath both the classic Tiguan and the all-electric ID.4. It has been developed on the popular MQB architecture, and its 174.2 inches (4,425 mm) length is a full 11 inches (279 mm) shorter than the Tiguan.
The company has already announced the Taos will reach dealerships next summer, offered in front- and all-wheel-drive versions to fully take advantage of the entire spectrum of the compact SUV market, considered by VW as the biggest in America (4 million units sold last year).
The German carmaker thinks its best traits will be the model’s “outstanding fuel economy, interior space, tech, and available driver assistance features,” and it has also prepared a new engine, sourced from the successful EA211 family pool.
The new 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine has been borrowed from the current Jetta, and for the Taos application it will develop 158 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. It will be paired with either an eight-speed automatic for the FWD version, or a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch transmission when opting for all-wheel drive.
Because VW has decided this engine will bring new values in terms of fuel efficiency, the 1.5-liter sports a few innovations: a modified Miller cycle, a very high compression rate of up to 11.5 to one, a high-pressure injection system (350 bar), as well as the company’s first North American application of VTG (Variable Turbine Geometry).
We are talking about the newest addition to the SUV lineup, of course, the Taos. It has been prepared to become the base offering in the high-riding range, being slotted underneath both the classic Tiguan and the all-electric ID.4. It has been developed on the popular MQB architecture, and its 174.2 inches (4,425 mm) length is a full 11 inches (279 mm) shorter than the Tiguan.
The company has already announced the Taos will reach dealerships next summer, offered in front- and all-wheel-drive versions to fully take advantage of the entire spectrum of the compact SUV market, considered by VW as the biggest in America (4 million units sold last year).
The German carmaker thinks its best traits will be the model’s “outstanding fuel economy, interior space, tech, and available driver assistance features,” and it has also prepared a new engine, sourced from the successful EA211 family pool.
The new 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine has been borrowed from the current Jetta, and for the Taos application it will develop 158 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. It will be paired with either an eight-speed automatic for the FWD version, or a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch transmission when opting for all-wheel drive.
Because VW has decided this engine will bring new values in terms of fuel efficiency, the 1.5-liter sports a few innovations: a modified Miller cycle, a very high compression rate of up to 11.5 to one, a high-pressure injection system (350 bar), as well as the company’s first North American application of VTG (Variable Turbine Geometry).
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