Photo: X-Tomi Design
At the ongoing Detroit Auto Show, German carmaker Volkswagen unveiled a second major version of its Cross Concept, which previews a North American made midsize crossover SUV. This time, it was a 5-door with a sloped tailgate, frameless doors and "coupe" in its name. However, it wasn't a true coupe, not in the same sense as the Range Rover Evoque.
In the spirit of "there you go, I fixed it", Hungarian graphics manipulator X-Tomi Design has removed the rear doors of the Cross Coupe and shorted the body a bit to create an Evoque killer.
Mind you, it's very easy to get excited about this latest concept, called the Cross Coupe GTE. Volkswagen has largely built useless niche cars and boring sedans over the past few years. But the concept they presented in Detroit was better built than the Audi Q7, had frameless doors and a VR6-based hybrid powertrain with 360 hp. How can you not want that?
VW has already announced plans to put a production version of its SUV concepts into production at the Chattanooga, Tennessee plant by the end of 2016. However, all signs point towards a 7-seat model to rival the Nissan Pathfinder, not a sexy lifestyle vehicle. But give them time and maybe they'll kill the Eos and the Beetle and replace them with this sexy beast.
For now, all we know for sure about this SUV is that it will be based on the same MQB platform as the 2015 Golf and Audi A3. V6 engines are possible, but engineers are still searching for ways to integrate such large lumps into the modular architecture. Given that the new Passat, also based on the MQB, has a total of 10 engines available, they should have plenty of turbos to choose from instead.
Mind you, it's very easy to get excited about this latest concept, called the Cross Coupe GTE. Volkswagen has largely built useless niche cars and boring sedans over the past few years. But the concept they presented in Detroit was better built than the Audi Q7, had frameless doors and a VR6-based hybrid powertrain with 360 hp. How can you not want that?
VW has already announced plans to put a production version of its SUV concepts into production at the Chattanooga, Tennessee plant by the end of 2016. However, all signs point towards a 7-seat model to rival the Nissan Pathfinder, not a sexy lifestyle vehicle. But give them time and maybe they'll kill the Eos and the Beetle and replace them with this sexy beast.
For now, all we know for sure about this SUV is that it will be based on the same MQB platform as the 2015 Golf and Audi A3. V6 engines are possible, but engineers are still searching for ways to integrate such large lumps into the modular architecture. Given that the new Passat, also based on the MQB, has a total of 10 engines available, they should have plenty of turbos to choose from instead.
Google News