Taking away four-wheel drive adds fleet appeal to VW’s mid-size SUV, says Julian Kirk.

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SECTOR SUV PRICE £28,665 FUEL 58.9mpg CO2 125g/km

Rather surprisingly, this front-wheel drive version of the new Tiguan is not expected to be the biggest seller in the UK – that honour falling to its four-wheel drive stablemate. Despite the fact that 99.9% of Tiguan buyers have no intention of doing anything more arduous in it than trotting into town on the school run, they still want that feel-good 4WD branding.

Strange, but true. But in the company car world, this variant is sure to make up the lion’s share of sales because it simply makes the most sense. All of the looks, kit and kudos of driving a sporty SUV, but with one less driven axle and all the benefits that brings in weight, emissions and fuel economy.

In best-selling SE Nav guise the Tiguan comes with the excellent Discover navigation module which features an eight-inch colour touchscreen, Car-Net ‘guide and inform’ offering traffic, fuel pricing and parking space updates, plus the excellent Apple CarPlay functionality (other brands of mobile phone-based infotainment are also available).

This package really makes life easy if you’re out on the road all day, taking the stress out of myriad tedious tasks such as looking for a parking spot, thus allowing you to concentrate on the job in hand.

On the road the Tiguan is comfortable too. That loftier driving position gives excellent all-round visibility while the light gearchange and steering take the effort out of driving. Add in a roomy and airy cabin fitted with top quality materials and you have an ideal office on wheels.

This Tiguan may lose a little to its 4WD stablemate in terms of traction, but this seems a small concession when you look at the numbers…

In SE Nav guise as tested the front-wheel drive Tiguan not only costs less than at the front end than the four-wheel drive version (£28,665 vs £30,375), but it also offers significant fuel economy savings  (58.9 vs 50.4mpg) and, crucially, CO2 emissions – 125g/km vs 141. The latter figures translate into a saving of £43 a month in benefit in-in-kind tax. It also means enhanced writing down allowances for businesses thanks to being sub-130g/km.

Verdict: In front-wheel drive guise the Tiguan makes a strong case for itself, offering useful financial savings for drivers and businesses.