Sweating The Details

THE SMALL STUFF MATTERS FOR THESE TWO $40K LUXURY CROSSOVERS

- Christian Seabaugh

Details matter, especially when it comes to luxury. When you can get leather in a Ford Fiesta, those hoping to compete in the luxury space need to sweat the small stuff to succeed. Volvo and VW both have gotten the message.

Long viewed in this country as alternatives for luxury and mainstream buyers avoiding a “traditional” choice, both brands have been making major efforts toward increasing market shares. For Volkswagen, this has meant more premium trim levels and a new compact crossover promising German design and performance at a value price. For Volvo, it’s new CUVs that stand for the ideals of Scandinavian luxury.

The 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL TSI 4Motion and the 2018 Volvo XC60 T5 AWD represent this shift, and although one was designed to steal sales from Toyota and the other from Audi, there’s enough overlap that we decided it was a good idea to invite them to compete as part of our $40,000 “Is Luxury Worth It?” challenge.

For buyers looking for a more luxurious mainstream compact crossover, the new Tiguan is a pretty compelling option. VW has previously crossed the line between mainstream and luxury brands (anyone remember the Phaeton or W-8-powered Passat?), and with the top trim Tiguan SEL, VW looks like it’s found the sweet spot. The Tiguan has attractive new sheetmetal and a lengthy list of standard features, including an Audi-esque digital instrument cluster and driver-assist features. It has the luxury front covered, too, with a heated steering wheel, heated seats, a Fender audio system, and a full-length panoramic sunroof. Our attractive white-on-black-on-orange Tiguan SEL tester stickers for $38,950, its only options being the $5,160 Premium package and the $500 third-row seat.