Volkswagen Taigun vs Skoda Kushaq: Price, variants, features compared

Volkswagen Taigun SUV marks the German carmaker's venture into the compact SUV segment for the first time in India. The launch was long awaited, given that the Taigun was first unveiled almost six months ago. But it seems to have picked up pace within the first few days, recording more than 13,000 bookings by the weekend so far.

Volkswagen hopes the Taigun SUV will attract a large section of young buyers with its famed German engineering and features it has to offer. With prices starting at ₹10.49 lakh and going up to ₹17.49 lakh (ex-showroom), Taigun is offered in five trim levels with the option of two powertrains.

Volkswagen Taigun is in a way a technical cousin of the Skoda Kushaq, not only because the two carmakers belong to the same group, but also because they share a lot of similarities, including its price structure. Compared to the Taigun, Skoda Kushaq prices start at ₹10.50 lakh and go up to ₹18 lakh (ex-showroom). While both SUVs are aggressively priced, they still do not manage to undercut some of the key rivals like Hyundai Creta or Kia Seltos.

If one takes a look at the price structuring of both Taigun and Kushaq, one will realise that the two SUVs have similar number of variants on offer. While Taigun starts with the Comfortline trim, Kushaq offers Active as the base variant. Both these variants come with the same 1.0litre TSI petrol engine mated to a manual gearbox. The two SUVs also offer only two trims with the choice of the more powerful 1.5-litre TSI engine which is mated to either a 5-speed manual or a seven-speed DSG gearbox. For Taigun, the trims are classified as the GT Line, which has a manual and a DSG unit. For Kushaq though, the top two variants are either automatic or DSG units. Therefore, Kushaq's 1.5-litre TSI automatic model is priced a little more than a lakh against Taigun's GT Line manual.

Volkswagen Taigun SUV variants	Price (Ex-showroom, India)	Skoda Kushaq SUV variants	Price (Ex-showroom, India)
Comfortline	₹10.49 lakh	Active	₹10.51 lakh
Highline (M)	₹12.79 lakh	Ambition	₹12,81 lakh
Highline (AT)	₹14.09 lakh	Ambition (AT)	₹14.21 lakh
Topline (M)	₹14.56 lakh	Style	₹14.61 lakh
Topline (AT)	₹15.90 lakh	Style (AT)	₹15.82 lakh
GT (M)	₹14.99 lakh	Style AT (1.5-litre TSI)	₹16.22 lakh
GT Plus (DSG)	₹17.49 lakh	Style (1.5-litre DSG)	₹17.62 lakh

Ashish Gupta, Brand Director at Volkswagen India, spoke exclusively to HT Auto on the sidelines of the launch. He said, “When we started this project, around three years back, it was very important for us to make sure that we provide value to the customers value in built with standard expectations from a Volkswagen. When a customer buys a Volkswagen, he expects at least a minimum level of features minimal level of equipment, and standard safety. That's something which our customers on unequivocally told us, you cannot compromise on. And that meant we very clearly decided that we will not be introducing the Trendline. That is why we are starting our lineup from the Comfortline, which means it is one plus above entry level and comes with a very well equipped package."

Gupta also said, “One thing is pretty clear that it is important for both of us to succeed and we have to feed from each other's success. So both our teams work very closely together, and making sure that we define our strategies not to overlap each other. But at the same time, also maintaining our unique identities. I would say my sibling brand has also been pretty successful, whether I'm more successful them or not, doesn't matter. As long as we as a group are successful."

While Volkswagen refused to agree about a possible sibling rivalry, it seems that Taigun and Kushaq will lock horns almost variant for variant, price for price. While Skoda had a good run so far with the Kushaq SUV in terms of sales and bookings, question is whether Taigun's arrival will overshadow its initial success.