WOLFSBURG: Volkswagen has confirmed a stylish new coupe-crossover called the Taigo which is based on the company's Brazilian-made Nivus SUV for the South American market.

The Taigo will debut later this year, with European sales set to start towards the end of 2021.

The car comes with economical TSI petrol engines, LED headlights as standard, a fully digital cockpit and a suite of assistance systems.

The Taigo aims to give customers a more rakish, style-focused small SUV option in VW’s range at a time when the compact crossover market is rapidly expanding.



Taking the Nivus as a basis, the Taigo is slightly longer than the T-Cross at 4,266 mm long, but its roofline is around 10 mm lower.

Images from VW show off a chunky front bumper, with a sizeable intake and gloss black trim inserts. Large alloy wheels are fitted.

VW was tight-lipped about the name Taigo, which is a popular boy's name in Japan. Modern car names are usually word inventions chosen by committee and are designed to generate a positive feeling.

Taigo sounds strikingly similar to Tiago, which was chosen by India's Tata Motors to rename a hatchback originally called Zica. The moniker was quickly dropped after the pre-Covid Zika virus, spelt with a "k", threatened to derail the 2016 Rio Olympics.

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