Taigo debuted a year after the Nivus in Europe and came to South Africa in 2022. Image: Volkswagen.
Brought to market three years ago in South America, but only in 2021, badged as Taigo, a more powerful version of the Volkswagen Nivus has reportedly been approved for introduction in 2024 following the debut of the Polo GTS.
Set to retain the nomenclature in question, the Nivus GTS will be modelled on the European-spec Taigo R-Line and feature sportier bumpers and door sills, GTS specific 18-inch alloy wheels, and, as standard, an illuminated grille, the Matrix I.Q. LED headlights, and an imitation rear diffuser.
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Underneath, the suspension will be revised, and the Dynamic Chassis Control System possibly added, along with the XDS electronic front differential.
Similar to the Polo GTS, the Nivus GTS will receive unique exterior detailing, namely a black roofliner, GTS branding, sport seats with GTS embroidered seatbacks and red stitching, an imitation leather-covered multi-function steering wheel, and a new gear knob.
Up front, the flex-fuel 1.4 TSI engine will be kept, but retuned from 94kW/200Nm to the same 110kW/250Nm as in the Polo GTS.
Up on the 85kW/200Nm made by the South African-spec Taigo’s 1.0 TSI three-pot, the Nivus GTS’ amount of twist will continue to go to the front wheels only, but via a six-speed Tiptronic gearbox as opposed to the seven-speed DSG.
While no performance figures are known, expectations are that the Nivus GTS could exceed 200 km/h and reach 100 km/h from standstill in less than nine seconds.
As a comparison, the Polo GTS will get to 100 km/h from zero in 8.3 seconds and hit a top speed of 206 km/h, while the European-spec Taigo, fitted with the newer 110kW/250Nm 1.5 TSI Evo mill, will hit 210 km/h and reach 100 km/h from naught in 8.5 seconds.
Given the displacement of its engine, the South African Taigo is, unsurprisingly, the least spritely, with a top speed of 200 km/h and a claimed 0-100 km/h sprint time of 10 seconds.
In announcing the GTS, motor1.com Brazil also claims the “scheduled 2024” launch will coincide with the Nivus’s first mid-life facelift, which will bring a number of exterior and interior tweaks to the rest of the range.
As it stands, no further details are known, with the same applying to the possibility of the South African Taigo being the recipient of the 1.4 TSI mill used locally in the Tiguan and certain Audi models.
Unlike the Nivus, which originates from the São Bernardo do Campo Plant in São Paulo, the Taigo is made at the Pamplona Plant in Spain, with the dashboard on all right-hand-drive market models coming from the Kariega Plant in the Eastern Cape.
Should approval be given, though, expect the GTS moniker to be eschewed for a different descriptive moniker.
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