Personalized interior. The design team also customized the interior space of the Tiguan GTE Active Concept to coordinate with the all-terrain exterior. For instance, the trim strips of brushed, dark aluminum ("Blade" design) matches the materials used for the front and rear underbody guards and for the add-on roof components; the trim strip wraps around the instrument panel and the door trim panels, defining their style. In addition, accents in dark chrome ("Black Night" design) create a connection to the exterior design. These accents include the steering wheel trim. Meanwhile, fine "Dragon Red" strips in the frames for the air vents repeat the color of the exterior paint. Another new design element is the two-tone Nappa leather upholstery in "Rhodium Grey" and "Dark Graphite": The seat surfaces, armrests and door inserts are all upholstered in the bright "Rhodium Grey". The "Color & Trim" design team used "Dark Graphite" for the side surfaces and seatbacks (outer surfaces). The leather surfaces of the seats and door inserts in "Rhodium Grey" exhibit a three-dimensional pattern of rhomboidal shapes that transitions in size (from small to large). Along with their size, the rhomboids also change in their three-dimensionality. The large rhomboids are embossed deeper, while the embossing of the small rhomboids is barely perceptible. The same design pattern was transferred to the milled aluminum surrounds of the woofers in the doors. The open leather edges also reflect a high level of craftsmanship; they are worked into the seats, head restraints, armrests and steering wheel – a narrow red dyed stripe between the different leather surfaces. Using these open leather borders along with a new processing technique made it possible, for the first time, to produce the leather-trimmed steering wheel without stitching.
Avant-garde display and control elements. Overall, the interior also emphasizes the car's sporty SUV character. Fitting in with this picture is the driver-oriented design of the instrument panel with its display and control elements that feature avant-garde styling and are perfectly thought-out. The visually dominant equipment elements on-board the Tiguan GTE Active Concept are the digital Active Info Display (in front of the driver) and the newly developed, next-generation infotainment system. Directly beneath its large touchscreen – which can also be operated by gesture control – is the center console with climate controls. Here, all of the controls are designed as touch sliders, including for the seat heating function. The center console itself is dominated by the high position of the gear shifter with an array of control buttons arranged around it. The latter is longer on the driver's side, because this is where the multifunction switch for the new 4MOTION Active Control is located.
Next generation infotainment system. The top system of the next-generation modular infotainment platform (MIB) at its final production level which is now being shown deserves special attention. The two exceptional features of this system are a large 9.2-inch high-resolution touchscreen (1,280 x 640 pixels) and gesture control. All functions and displays were also embedded with a screen surface that is sophisticated and clear as glass; on the left – facing the driver – are five sensor buttons (Menu, Home, On/Off and Volume "+" / "–"). The 8.2 in (209 mm) wide and 4.1 in (104.6 mm) tall home screen consists of a large main window and two configurable tiles (positioned on the right side on the home screen), each of which is 1.7 in (42 mm) tall and 2.3 in (60 mm) wide. They can be filled with ten different types of content – e.g. Media (including cover image) or Phone (including image of the conversational partner). In addition, it is possible to use the entire surface of the home screen for one function – to show the navigation map in large format, to show special instruments of the Offroad mode (steering angle, compass, elevation indicator) or to show, via App Connect, the smartphone apps of Mirror Link™, Android Auto™ (Google) or CarPlay™ (Apple).