Volkswagen teases new T-roc
Volkswagen has teased its upcoming T-roc compact SUV with a video and a series of concept sketches, ahead of a global reveal this week and its public debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September.
While timing for the diminutive high-riding wagon has not yet been confirmed, Volkswagen Australia general manager of corporate communications Paul Pottinger said the company was keen to secure the T-roc for Australia.
“It’s a vehicle we’re very keenly after,” he said.
“We’re very optimistic about it. We can’t absolutely confirm timing at this point, but we will be able to do so in a few weeks at Frankfurt.”
Judging by the images, the design of the production T-roc remains faithful to the concept that was revealed three years ago at the 2014 Geneva motor show, although the open-top roof and three-door body style has been ditched in favour of a more practical hard-top roof and five doors.
Notable design cues include a wide, hexagonal grille surrounded by LED headlights that is reminiscent of VW Group stablemate Audi’s Q5 and Q7 SUVS.
Nestled underneath the headlights are ringed LED strips for the daytime running lights and indicators, with a trapezoidal lower grille finishing off the front fascia.
The tail-lights are similar to the Troc’s larger sibling, the Tiguan, with a wide LED light design that narrows towards the centre.
Snippets of the cabin show a twotone design with flourishes of the car’s exterior colour along the dash and door trim.
Volkswagen Group Australia managing director Michael Bartsch told Goauto last month the company was looking to fill the gaps in its current SUV line-up in order to boost sales.
“First of all, we don’t have the breadth that we would ideally like in the SUVS,” he said.
“We don’t have the Mazda CX-9 competitor, or the CX-3 competitor, and so on.
“And when 51 percent of the market is SUV, but it represents only 23 to 24 percent of what we’re selling, you can see that there’s a massive disconnect.”
Concrete details on the T-roc are thin on the ground, however, it has been confirmed it will be built on Volkswagen’s versatile MQB platform, shared by models such as the Golf, Passat, Tiguan, upcoming Polo and a number of Audi and Skoda models.
A likely powertrain for the T-roc will be the new 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol unit revealed at last year’s Vienna Motor Symposium, which is said to reduce fuel consumption over the 1.4-litre unit currently powering the Golf, Jetta and Tiguan.
Volkswagen’s seven-speed dualclutch automatic transmission would make a sensible fit, and front-wheel drive is the most likely configuration for the T-roc.
There is the possibility of introducing a turbo-diesel variant, but given the T-roc’s urban persona, customer demand could determine whether an oil-burning variant makes it here.
The T-roc premiere is today, ahead of its public debut at Frankfurt on September 12.