Volkswagen T-ROC lays groundwork for SUV family

Volkswagen’s T-ROC concept is set to form the basis for the launch of a Golf-based, small SUV due to appear in 2016 or 2017.

Heinz-Jakob Neusser, VW's chief of research and development, told Wheels in Geneva that the German premium car-maker would like to build the T-ROC.

“It would be the logical consequence of the Golf concept,” Mr Neusser said. “We've shown many SUV concepts in the past 24 months – many of them very close to being ready for production."

T-ROC is a two-door, 4Motion (all-wheel-drive) coupe crossover powered by VW’s 2.0-litre turbo diesel, but sources within the car-maker say it can easily be stretched to accommodate the planned four-door style.

The new, shallower wrap-around front end previews VW’s next design evolution for a new range of SUVs.

T-ROC follows the larger CrossBlue, CrossBlue Coupe and Taigun concepts to give a clear indicator that VW is anxiously speeding up development of a compact and high-volume SUV that will fit below the current Tiguan. By 2017, VW expects to offer five completely different SUVs.

At 4179mm in length, 1831mm wide and 1501mm high, the two-door T-ROC is 246mm shorter, 23mm wider and a significant 199mm lower than the five-door Tiguan. At 2595mm, the wheelbase is 10mm shorter.

Volkswagen suggests a kerb weight of 1420kg for the production version.