The is kind of a rolling symbol of Volkswagen’s troubles in the U.S. It’s too small and too expensive to be truly competitive in one of the most important segments in the game. VW knows this, and their secret weapon is their new . Meet the totally redesigned 2017 Tiguan.

The new Tiguan will debut this week at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany, and it’s the second generation of a crossover that first dropped in 2007. The big news is now it’s underpinned by the same MQB modular platform used by the Golf, GTI, Audi A3 and S3 and many other small VW Group products. Those are, in my estimation, the best small cars in the world right now, so off the bat the new Tiguan will probably be much better than its predecessor.

It looks bigger and beefier, too, probably because VW has finally figured out that Americans need the pretensions of ruggedness with their small car-based crossovers. It has more overall length and a longer wheelbase, plus more trunk and interior space. At the same time, weight is down 110 pounds over the old Tiguan.

There’s eight gasoline and diesel engines available in Europe, but here in America we’ll be lucky if we get two of those. 4MOTION all-wheel drive is also optional. Oh, and there’s a plug-in hybrid GTE model debuting as a concept.

If you’re considering getting a Tiguan (why?), definitely wait for this one to reach our shores.

Contact the author at .