Volkswagen heads to Brands Hatch to handover 10,000th Tiguan R

Volkswagen UK has marked the sale of the 10,000th Tiguan R by hosting a special handover event at Brands Hatch.

The car was sold by Marshall Motor Group's Volkswagen Gatwick dealership, but VW stepped in to help celebrate the occasion with a high-octane handover event.

Retired British Airways employee Trevor Godfrey was the recipient. He was invited to track where a special presentation and car unveiling took place in the race circuit pit lane.

Godfrey was given the opportunity to head out on to the race track in another near-identical Tiguan R, after some initial passenger laps with a professional driver.

Peter Jost, head of Marketing and Sales for Volkswagen R, oversaw the event. He said: “This is a big milestone for us, but it doesn’t come as a surprise. The Tiguan is already Volkswagen’s most successful SUV globally and this performance Tiguan R model has been incredibly popular.

“The UK is actually one of the biggest markets for Volkswagen R vehicles, so I’m glad the 10,000th Tiguan R has found a home here and I’m delighted for Trevor that he gets to experience what this car is truly capable of on a track – the place all Volkswagen R models are developed.”

Godfrey opted for the Tiguan R on the recommendation of Luke Hanman, general sales manager at Marshall Volkswagen Gatwick, and sales executive Brooke Chapman-Smith. He visited the dealer to part-exchange his Touareg for something smaller and more exciting.

The Tiguan R has been on sale since February 2021. It is powered by VW's familiar four-cylinder, two-litre turbocharged petrol engine, it produces 320PS and 420Nm of torque to deliver 4.9-second acceleration to 62mph - just two-tenths of a second behind the Golf R hatchback.

The R comes with seven-speed DSG transmission, 4Motion four-wheel drive and the new R-Performance Torque Vectoring system, which distributes power to all four wheels.

Godfrey said: “It was a surprise when they told me that mine was the 10,000th Tiguan R and that a special event was being planned for the handover. I thought it would be at the dealer, but this is great. I guess I’ve had the luck of the draw, but I’ll take it!”

Volkswagen retained its position as the UK’s best-selling new car brand after bumper December registrations accelerated its performance ahead of US rival Ford.

Despite a 10% full-year reduction in registrations the German carmaker topped the rankings with 131,850 registrations, leaving Ford in second place with 126,826 – an increase of 9.1% over its 2021 total.