Volkswagen T-Cross teased ahead of reveal

Volkswagen has taken to Twitter to tease the long-awaited production version of its fourth SUV, the diminutive T-Cross, ahead of a full unveil this weekend in Europe.

Slated to go up against an avalanche of baby SUVs like the evergreen Mazda CX-3, Hyundai’s Kona, the Honda HR-V and the Toyota C-HR, VW’s T-Cross will sit beneath the medium-sized Tiguan SUV.

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The T-Cross has been teased time again over the last couple of years, as the German brand battles to flesh out its smaller SUV set in the midst of a compact crossover boom.

And Volkswagen Australia can’t wait.

“It gives us coverage in a segment in which we are conspicuously absent,” said VW Australia’s head of communications Paul Pottinger, adding that the company would look at every variant that becomes available to add to the local roster.

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The small SUV segment is currently running white hot in Australia, with overall sales across the country up by 25 percent from the same time last year. Only a handful of brands aren’t represented in the space, including VW, Kia and Volvo.

The VW T-Cross will hit European markets in 2019, but Australians may have to wait – possibly until 2020 - as VW battles to make all of its cars WLTP-compliant.

WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) testing is a new and incredibly complex regime designed to give consumers more realistic fuel consumption advice at purchase time. It is causing headaches for many car makers as they struggle to comply with the new standard.

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The T-Cross preview teaser is short, but offers up a view of a squat, rugged baby SUV that will be similar in size to VW stablemate Skoda’s new Yeti. It looks like VW hasn’t pushed the boat out too much when it comes to exterior design, but expect larger foglights to blend with VW’s latest slatted grille look up front, while the teaser vid hints at a stylised rear light array that stretches all the way across the rear end.

VW has also revealed that 18-inch rims are the largest that will be fitted, which points to a Sportline model coming down the track. There won’t, however, be a GTI version, as Volkswagen keeps that badge up its sleeve for Polo and Golf.

Inside, sporty cloth seats and VW’s digital dash are previewed, along with the same large multimedia touchscreen design that features in the new Polo.

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We’ll learn more about the specs of the T-Cross later this week, but expect to see at least couple of variants of VW’s three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine on offer for Australia, in both 70kW and 85kW form.

It’s unlikely, though, that a diesel version will be made available; ditto a manual. A six-speed twin-clutch gearbox will likely be the only choice, and no AWD version is on the cards, either; it’ll be FWD all the way.

We also know it’ll be one of the larger compact SUVs in the space, with a length of just over four metres and a fair bit more luggage space than the sales-leading CX-3 (455 litres versus the Mazda’s 350 litres).

The T-Cross will burst onto your internets at 5pm on October 25.