The Volkswagen lineup is evolving, and at the heart of that evolution is the stylish new Mk8 Golf. So it’s fitting that the rest of the lineup follows suit, and the latest to get the brand's new look is the 2021 Tiguan. The mid-size crossover now sports a familial face, a totally renovated cabin, and the latest in safety and technology equipment.
And the Volkswagen Tiguan does indeed look sharp – probably because it shares a lot in common visually with the latest Golf. New design cues include standard LED headlights and taillights, a larger grille, a bold "TIGUAN" wordmark on the boot lid, and a fresh bumper with bigger vents. With this facelift, VW says not only does the Tiguan look more like the Golf, but also its SUV siblings, the North American market Atlas Cross Sport and the European-market Touareg.
The versatile VW lineup:
But most of the significant changes to the Tiguan are in the cabin. The SUV sports a new multifunction steering wheel, as well as a redesigned centre stack that houses a redesigned touchscreen. That central screen runs the latest VW infotainment system, dubbed MIB3, and now every Tiguan comes standard with a digital instrument cluster. The base digital instrument cluster is 8.0 inches and the optional screen is 10.0 inches.
Also new is VW's "Travel Assist" safety suite. With features like adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go as well as lane-keep assist, the equipment is available as an option on the base Tiguan but comes standard on mid-range models.
Powering the new Tiguan should be the same 1.5-litre four-cylinder TSI engine from last year. And it still produces the same 128 bhp (95 kW). European buyers will get a hot Tiguan R with 315 bhp (235 kW), as well as a more efficient plug-in hybrid with 241 bhp (180 kW), but VW has not finalised its model lineup in the UK, so we wait until the updated SUV goes on sale in Europe next month.
Gallery: Volkswagen Tiguan restyling (2020)