After being absent from one of the fastest growing markets, Volkswagen is about to make a splash with its first subcompact crossover, the T-Roc. These latest spy photos show the car almost completely undisguised.
With only minimal wrap covering the headlights and taillights, the engineers testing the T-Roc weren't too please to be spotted by our spy photographers, so they hurriedly loaded the car onto a trailer.
What's funny here is not the lack of camouflage itself, but the fact that they are trying to pass it off as the Ford Edge. That's why it has fake chrome at the front and a sort of Ford badge-sticker at the rear. That reminds us of the SEAT Ibiza testing as a Hyundai.
Seeing the T-Roc in such production detail gives us a sense of a much more aggressive car than we've come to expect from Volkswagen. The fenders at the back have been bulged for no reason other than to look good and the slope of the trunk is pronounced.
It's also quite a big car, much more so than the Polo with which it's supposed to share the supermini class. But that's not surprising, considering there's so much room under the Tiguan in the range.
The red brake calipers could be because they are using parts from the Polo GTI during testing. But this prototype has no performance ambitions, not that a T-Roc GTI can't happen going forward.
A full range of engines will be offered, with many buyers opting for the 1.0-liter 3-cylinder TSI turbo unit, producing 115 horsepower or less. The 1.5 TSI with 150 hp might afford the T-Roc the opportunity to use AWD. Of course, there will also be diesels, at least two of them if not more. 5- and 6-speed manual gearboxes will be offered in conjunction with the 7-speed DSG auto, at least in Europe.
The official debut is sure to happen in Frankfurt, but the web will likely get to see the T-Roc even before that.
What's funny here is not the lack of camouflage itself, but the fact that they are trying to pass it off as the Ford Edge. That's why it has fake chrome at the front and a sort of Ford badge-sticker at the rear. That reminds us of the SEAT Ibiza testing as a Hyundai.
Seeing the T-Roc in such production detail gives us a sense of a much more aggressive car than we've come to expect from Volkswagen. The fenders at the back have been bulged for no reason other than to look good and the slope of the trunk is pronounced.
It's also quite a big car, much more so than the Polo with which it's supposed to share the supermini class. But that's not surprising, considering there's so much room under the Tiguan in the range.
The red brake calipers could be because they are using parts from the Polo GTI during testing. But this prototype has no performance ambitions, not that a T-Roc GTI can't happen going forward.
A full range of engines will be offered, with many buyers opting for the 1.0-liter 3-cylinder TSI turbo unit, producing 115 horsepower or less. The 1.5 TSI with 150 hp might afford the T-Roc the opportunity to use AWD. Of course, there will also be diesels, at least two of them if not more. 5- and 6-speed manual gearboxes will be offered in conjunction with the 7-speed DSG auto, at least in Europe.
The official debut is sure to happen in Frankfurt, but the web will likely get to see the T-Roc even before that.