Volkswagen has announced that its all-new 2018 Atlas and Tiguan will come with the lengthiest bumper-to-bumper warranty among SUVs sold in the United States when they arrive at dealers in the coming months. The coverage for six years or 72,000 miles, whichever comes first, includes powertrain components and is transferable to subsequent owners at no cost.
After soldiering on for many years with the Tiguan as its lone crossover entry, VW finally is poised to attract a much wider swath of SUV buyers with the competitively sized and priced three-row Atlas and the much larger next-generation Tiguan. And it needs a compelling point of differentiation to get shoppers’ attention in these hotly contested segments. Volkswagen Group of America president and CEO Hinrich Woebcken said that the company has heard repeated feedback from crossover buyers that total cost of ownership is an important metric during the consideration process, something this warranty should help to lower.
Extended-warranty coverage is something that Hyundai and Kia have used to great effect during their rapid growth in the United States since the launch of their America’s Best Warranty program in 1998. But that 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain coverage only applies to the original owner. The transferable bumper-to-bumper coverage is shorter, at five years or 60,000 miles.
For the Atlas, Volkswagen boasts that the warranty bests those offered on competitors such as the Ford Explorer, H...