After many, many spyshots, followed by what seems like even more teasers, VW has finally pulled the wraps off the new T-Roc.
It looks surprisingly good for a VW, doesn’t it?
Yes, indeed it does. VW does not exactly have great form in producing great-looking crossovers, but the T-Roc is a surprisingly adventurous and cohesive effort. For starters, like most cars built on the MQB matrix, its stance benefits greatly from the car’s width, aided further by a roofline that’s exactly halfway between that of the Golf and the Tiguan. Further, it features an enlarged, “rugged-ized” version of the new VW grille that combines seamlessly with a narrow pair of lights, which together give the car a nicely butch stare at the front. And then there is the detailing: there are neat LED lights up front, prominent wheelarch flares on the side, a stubby rear with attractively-designed faux air- and exhaust-outlets, and a contrasting roof option that, for once, seems to compliment the car. But let’s be honest – I think we’re all happy that the company did not botch the design of the T-Roc as they had with its twin, Audi Q2…
Hey, that’s a good point – how exactly does the T-Roc fit in the VW range if it’s based on the smaller Q2?
Well, for starters, despite sharing a digit with the much-missed A2 mini and sitting between the A3 and A1 in the current range, the Q2 is in fact as long as the Audi A3. Got that? Good, because it gets more complicated from here. The T-Roc is pretty much a twin to the Q2, adding a few centimeters here and there, and just like that car is based on the slightly-shorter wheelbase of the 3-door Audi A3 (but not, confusingly, the 3-door VW Golf, whose wheelbase is as long as that of the 5-door model). As a result, the T-Roc is roughly as long as the Golf, about 25cm shorter than the standard Tiguan, and almost 50cm shorter than the LWB Tiguan. If you were thinking that VW was covering each niche of the crossover market you’d be right – next on the horizon is the new Toureg, the Polo-sized T-Breeze (which will hopefully be renamed), plus there is always the possibility VW will actually build the cute little Up-based Taigun.
Seems like the T-Roc has the ingredients to succeed then, no?
It sure does! By directly targeting the segment-leading Nissan Qashquai (known as the Rogue Sport in the US) the T-Roc is going for the jugular in the European Compact Crossover segment. Plus, if VW decides to bring it to the US (and it really needs to), it should give the grand a useful cashe boost, something it really needs to climb out of its recent funk.
But, we’re really interested in knowing what you think about the T-Roc’s market prospects:
