Mr Popularity

The Tiguan – a compact family SUV – is Volkswagen’s bestselling car globally. The current version has been modernised, but it’s obvious that the German giant isn’t going to mess around with a winning recipe.

- By Pierre Steyn

The way people react to the car you’re driving speaks volumes. Take the brand new Volkswagen Golf GTI, for example. It’s the Tiguan’s hot-hatch cousin and in the week that I drove a test model, I was almost forced off the road as petrolheads swarmed in front of me, behind me and alongside to get a better look at the eighth incarnation of this iconic urban speedster. At traffic lights, grown men – some weren’t even wearing baseball caps! – lowered their windows and gave me thumbs up. In the parking lot at my local Checkers, strangers ran over to ask questions about the car.

“It’s not mine!” I stammered.“It’s a test car!”

Eventually, I learnt to just smile back with my thumb raised.

One week later, I drove the recently upgraded Tiguan – the top-of-the-range R-Line with the same 2.0-litre turbo-charged engine as the Golf GTI. But nobody even glanced in my direction at a traffic light. There were no conversations in parking lots. I might as well have been invisible.