The T-Cross Breeze concept.
WOLFSBURG: The Volkswagen T-Cross has been seen out and about in prototype form undergoing testing covered in the usual black and white camouflage, but it will be fully revealed to the world in all its glory in the second half of this year. It's just one of 19 new SUV models the brand is introducing that will eventually see around 40 percent of all Volkswagen's sales being made up of SUVs.
At last year's Geneva Motor Show we were treated to something of a sneak preview in the shape of the T-Cross Breeze concept, which was something of an open-top little brother to the T-Roc that was launched only quite recently. The new T-Cross will be a rival for the likes of the Nissan Juke, but also to its Seat Arona stablemate, which the VW will be technically very similar to.
It's believed the new model will be in dealerships in the first half of next year, and it will be priced right in between the Seat Arona and the larger VW T-Roc.
This important new model for the brand will be based on the Volkswagen Group's new MQB A0 platform, which also underpins a number of other compact SUVs such as the Seat Arona as well as hatchbacks including the new Polo. As the technical links with the Polo will be so strong, it means the new T-Cross is also likely to share a number of the compact hatch's engines.
The T-Cross Breeze concept certainly gave us an insight into what to expect from the eventual production T-Cross. The concept used a turbocharged 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, which sent 110bhp and 175Nm of torque to the front wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. That's likely to be the entry-level version of the new crossover, so there will be further models featuring a pair of turbocharged four-cylinder engines.
Production models are expected to deliver similar levels of economy-focused performance as the 4.2 l/100km and CO2 emissions of 115g/km of the T-Cross Breeze concept. There could also be hotter range-topping version to counter the more sensible bulk of the lineup, but that's yet to be confirmed.
