Volkswagen T-Cross baby SUV for Oz next year
But larger Volkswagen T-Roc SUV is still a work in progressThe Polo-based Volkswagen T-Cross small SUV has been confirmed for Australian release before the end of 2019, and the larger Golf-based T-Roc could join it in the German car-maker’s growing SUV line-up here.
The Volkswagen T-Cross will be the fourth SUV model from the brand after the Tiguan, the upcoming Tiguan Allspace 5+2 that we drove locally this week and the larger Touareg, which becomes Volkswagen’s tech flagship in its next generation due mid-2019.
If all goes to plan, Volkswagen Australia will win its battle with its German HQ to secure T-Roc production volume and it will become the fifth model in the company’s local SUV range.
“At this stage we are saying the T-Cross will be here in the second half of next year,” confirmed Volkswagen Australia product manager Todd Ford.
“We are very excited about that. It looks sensational and will be perfect for that market.
“It is the model that directly meets the volume area of that small SUV market.”
The T-Cross was previewed by the T-Cross Breeze convertible crossover concept (pictured), which debuted at the 2016 Geneva motor show.
It should be revealed in production form -- with four doors and a fixed roof -- at the Paris motor show in September.
Riding on a slightly longer wheelbase than the new Polo, which launched in Australia in March, it will be based on the same MQB front/all-wheel drive chassis as the T-Roc and Tiguan.
It will be pitched as a rival for pint-size city-crossovers such as the Toyota C-HR, Mazda CX-3, Hyundai Kona, Mitsubishi ASX and Nissan JUKE, potentially lowering the cost of VW SUV entry to under $25,000.
The T-Cross is likely to be only front-wheel drive and have a 1.0-litre turbo-petrol engine as its entry-level drivetrain. The more exciting news, according to European reports, is there could be a GTI version.
Meanwhile, the T-Roc, which is already on sale in Europe (you can read our first drive assessment from the global launch in Portugal here), has gone from being confirmed for Australia by early 2019 back to a work in progress that would arrive no sooner than 2020. Confusingly, a convertible version of the T-Roc has also been confirmed for production.
At just under 4.17m long, the T-Roc is slightly smaller than the Golf, positioning it between T-Cross and Tiguan and pitching it against the likes of the MINI Countryman and Jeep Renegade.
But VW remains bullish about T-Roc’s Australian potential and upbeat about eventually levering vehicles from the factory in Portugal where it is built at a rate of 200,000 per annum.
“T-Roc has all the presence and more of a Golf,” enthused Ford. “T-Roc is quite stylish and a special offering.
“It’s off the cards, so to speak, at the moment. I am still working away hard with the factory to get our voice [heard] and to get the car. But at the moment it is out of reach.
"Production is focussed on Europe and there is no other market getting it. That will slowly expand I think.
“It is produced in right-hand drive for the UK, but it is restricted to Europe for production reasons.”
If Volkswagen Australia has its way, it will also eventually introduce the US-built Atlas seven-seat crossover, the seven-seat 4x4 wagon version of the next-generation Amarok ute and the SUV member of VW's futuristic, all-electric I.D. model range due post-2020.
That would swell the number of SUVs that Volkswagen offers from two to eight, not counting the mooted 'Coupe' version of the Tiguan.
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