India-bound Volkswagen T-Cross to be revealed on 25 October

- Based on the new-gen Polo, the T-Cross is Volkswagen fourth-new SUV.

- Will make its public debut at Sao Paulo Auto Show.

- Might make its debut in India as a sub-four metre SUV to rival the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. 

Volkswagen is on an SUV offensive with no less than 19 new off-roaders coming through in the next two years. The fourth in line after the Tiguan, T-Roc and the flagship Touareg is the T-Cross, which is basically Polo on stilts. The T-Cross will be revealed to the world on 25 October before making a public premiere at the 2018 Sao Paulo Auto Expo in Brazil. 

We have seen the prototypes and design sketches of the T-Cross already and it is evident that the baby-crossover will take its styling cues from the bigger VW SUVs. So the grille will get full-width louvres, along with sharp body creases all around.  The headlight and taillight design will carry a similar design which will make it difficult to differentiate it from the bigger T-Roc. The tail light will be a one-piece unit running across the tailgate. There will be a two-tone paint scheme for the exterior but with a choice of no less than 12 colour options. The same colour theme will be seen inside the cabin as seen in the new-gen Polo. The T-Roc will be the most funky and customisable SUV from Volkswagen. 

Also Read: India-bound Volkswagen’s compact SUV spotted testing

Based on the same MQB-A0 platform as the new-gen Polo, it will measure 4,199x 1,760x1,568mm in dimensions. VW has also confirmed a boot size of 455litres which can be expanded to 1,281litres with the 60:40 seats folded down. Powertrain options will be a 1.0-litre and 1.5-litre petrol engines apart from 1.6-litre diesel engine. The baby SUV will only get a FWD layout with choice of automatic and manual transmission.

The upcoming T-Cross is also an important product for Volkswagen India. As a part of the India offensive 2.0 program, VW will position the T-Cross as their foot soldier in the high-selling sub-four metre SUV segment. The T-Cross will adopt a new MQB-A0-IN platform which has been developed specially for India. This will help it cut down the overall size to under four metres. Thus the T-Cross will arrive as a direct rival to the segment leader, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. But we’ll have to wait atleast another year or two for the T-Cross to be developed, manufactured and sold in India.