Having recently shown you our artist impression of the all-new 2017 VW Tiguan, we were caught entirely by surprise today when a Carscoops’ reader shared these photos of the production model in its birthday suit.

“I took these spy shots out my window from here in Vancouver, Canada” Sean told us. Evidently, Volkswagen was shooting marketing material for their new generation compact SUV that could make its first public outing as early as next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, if not in final production form, as a very thinly disguised study.

The new Tiguan looks sharper and generally more upmarket than the bland, current, first generation model, even though it will continue to go head-to-head with the same crop of compact SUVs like the Ford Escape / Kuga, Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5 and Nissan Qashqai when it reaches showrooms next year.

From this angle, at least, the new Tiguan shares common styling traits with VW’s larger Cross Blue Coupe concept from the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show

VW officials have hinted at the availability of three variants for the next Tiguan, including a standard wheelbase model with seating for five (and which we believe is pictured here), a longer-wheebase seven-seater for late next year, and a BMW X4-like, sporty five-seat coupe iteration for 2017.

The new Tiguan uses the VW Group’s ever-present MQB platform with powertrains to be sourced from the latest Golf, including an array of TSI turbocharged gasoline lumps and TDI turbo-diesels. VW may also offer the Golf GTE’s hybrid mill and the e-Golf’s all-electric unit on their new compact SUV.

A big tip of the hat to Sean for the awesome scoop!

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