Made in India VW Taigun & Renault Kiger in 2022 World Urban Car of the Year top 5
India Today
2022 World Car Awards finalists were announced recently and in the World Urban Car of the Year category, two out of the five finalists are made in India cars - Renault Kiger and VW Taigun.
The Finalists for the World Car of the Year have been announced. Spread across five categories, the grand jury of 102 automotive journalists from 33 countries has voted upon the cars that have made it this far. For 2022, the World Car Awards finalists list has two Indian cars, the Volkswagen Taigun and the Renault Kiger, both in the World Urban Car category. These two will be competing with the Dacia Sandero, Opel Mokka and Toyota Yaris Cross.
What makes the nomination of the two cars interesting is that both the Taigun and the Kiger have been designed and developed with India being the primary market until subsequently both the cars were exported overseas. The other cars in the World Urban Car category are sold in European, Asian and South American markets.
The Volkswagen Taigun is a completely new car for the German marque, it sits on the MQB-A0-IN platform, a derivative of VW’s MQB platform developed specifically for use in India. The car features a classic Volkswagen look, with its sharp lines, an upright silhouette, one that appeals loads to the Indian buyer. At the front is a chrome grille, flanked by LED headlamps and DRLs, while the rear has a continuous strip of LED making it quite a unique feature for the segment. The Taigun rides on 17-inch alloys. Inside, the Taigun provides a premium cabin with two-tone finish, one in red and one in silver. There is a 10-inch infotainment screen and 8-inch digital instrument panel, other features include ambient lighting, ventilated front seats, automatic climate control, wireless charging, sunroof and others.
VW has only provided petrol engine options for the Taigun, a 1.0-litre TSI with 115bhp and a 1.5-litre TSI with 150bhp. The smaller engine is available with 6-speed manual or automatic, while the bigger engine has a 7-speed DSG and 6-speed manual. There are four trim options, with the Comfortline starting at Rs 10.99 lakh, while the range topping GT Plus TSI is priced at Rs 17.99 lakh (all prices ex-showroom).
The Renault Kiger is the French brand’s attempt to capture a chunk of the sub-4m compact SUV segment that has been getting all the attention these days. It has been developed for markets like India on the Nissan-Renault CMF-A+ platform on which the Renault Triber and its competitor the Nissan Magnite are based. Externally, the car looks exactly like a Renault Kwid at first glance, however, a closer look reveals the difference in size and the much more premium design with split headlamp and DRL design. The rear too has C-shaped LED tail lamps, up-top the car has functional roof-rails and it rides on 16-inch alloys.
Inside the cabin has an extensive digital affair with the 8-inch infotainment display and the 7-inch digital instrument panel. Other features include automatic climate control, wireless charger, Arkamys 3D sound system and many others.
Powertrain wise, the Renault Kiger gets a 1.0-litre turbo-petrol with 100bhp and 160Nm of torque mated to either 5-speed MT or 5-speed CVT. There is a 1.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol with 72bhp and 96Nm of torque, available with 5-speed MT or 5-Speed AMT. The Renault Kiger is available in RXE, RXL, RXT and RXZ trims with prices starting Rs 5.79 lakh and going up to Rs 10.22 lakh (ex-showroom).