We had our first taste of a new sporty VW SUV at this year's Geneva Motor Show in the form of the Concept A. The rather more interesting Tiguan name has since been confirmed as the proper title for the production version and this week at the LA Auto Show, VW revealed the Tiguan Concept pictured here, offering a very close look at how the new car will turn out when it finally goes on sale later in 2007.

There are no radical design aspects to the exterior. Instead, the Tiguan draws heavily from the new VW family look, though with its own stylised lights and dark-anodised metallic front grille. The production car is likely to retain the chunky wheelarches and overall shape though we guess that only the top of the range models will sport twin-exit exhausts and 19-inch alloys.

The concept's wheels are shod in special Continental tyres that feature the body colour 'baked into' the rubber, an element unlikely to make it onto showroom models. The tyre pattern is repeated on the leather-lined seats. Although the concept features a distinctive black, silver and orange interior, the basic architecture shows how the final car will look, with a bias towards sporty rather than utilitarian. Indeed, the photographs clearly show the Tiguan being driven in mostly urban environments, so don't expect it to be a leading off-roader.

Of more significance is the fitment of BLUETEC technology, which employs a modular concept of different systems to reduce emissions on diesel engines. One of these systems is the NOx storage catalytic converter which cuts nitrogen oxides by up to 90 per cent over most current diesel units, allowing cars such as the diesel-fuelled Tiguan to meet strict US emissions legislation. This is the first appearance of this system on a VW, having been developed in conjunction with Mercedes-Benz.

Following the LA Show, it is likely that the showroom VW Tiguan will be revealed at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show, with UK sales starting early in 2008.

Shane O' Donoghue - 29 Nov 2006