Volkswagen will be launching a topless version of the T-Roc SUV at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show in a fortnight’s time. The media days for this year’s show, the largest and arguably the most important motor show in the global industry, are on September 10 and 11, The show opens to the public on September 12 and runs through until September 22.
A world first
Volkswagen says that this is the first convertible SUV in this market segment and it will be interesting to see how it is accepted in the ever-increasing SUV-Cross Over market. The last radical rendition of an SUV came when Range Rover introduced it’s very sports-orientated , low-roof-line Evoque in Paris in 2011. For a review of the 2019 Range Rover Evoque, click here.
This makes up for the delay of the new Golf 8
The news comes after Volkswagen announced recently that the company won’t be showing the new Golf 8 at Frankfurt. The Wolfsburg-based company is denying that there are development problems with the new Golf, but stated rather that a late 2019 launch doesn’t fit in with their plans, as interest in new car launches wanes in the final months of a calendar year.
T-Roc is smaller than the Tiguan
The T-Roc is a smaller-sized SUV launched in European markets in 2017. It is smaller than the Tiguan SUV which is sold here in South Africa, and is built on Volkswagen’s MQB platform which it shares with the current Volkswagen Gold and Audi A3, amongst other VW products. For a review of the Volkswagen Tiguan, click here.
Closed version of the T-Roc due here in mid-2010
To date the tin-top version of the T-Roc has not been available in South Africa, but Volkswagen South plans to introduce the closed version here in mid-2010. There no plans yet to introduce the T-RocCabriolet in South Africa.
In the tradition of the very first series Volkswagen Beetle, the Golf and the so-called New Beetle, the T-Roc Cabriolet will have a classic fabric soft top. However it will be electrically operated, opening and closing in nine seconds and operable at speeds of up to 30 km/h.
Pop-up roll over bar
To provide occupants with appropriate safety protection the T-Roc Cabriolet will have a pop-up high-strength steel roll-over bar, located behind the rear row of seats. The roll-over bar will spring into action within milliseconds, when sensors detect that a vehicle roll-over is imminent.
The windscreen is also heavily reinforced, while other structural modifications to the body shell will give the Cabriolet the required rigidity. These changes are necessary as removing the steel roof on a car normally results in a loss of body shell rigidity, which has safety as well as handling implications.
The car will come with a digital cockpit for instrumentation display and will also be permanently “online” using VW’s latest MIB3 infotainment system
Two petrol engines for Europe
Engines so far announced for the European market will be an 85 kW three-cylinder turbo and a 110 kW four-cylinder turbo petrol unit. The engine range for the closed version of the T-Roc scheduled for South Africa has not been announced officially here, but it is likely to include these two options. Transmission is through the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed DSG (dual clutch automatic) gearbox.
VW to also show the new 2020 all-electric ID.3 hatch
While the delay of the latest version of the enormously popular Golf will be a disappointment to many show-goers, Volkswagen will make up for this by a Frankfurt showing of the full-production version of its new ID.3 all-electric city car, a hatchback which is due to go on sale in 2020.
For a report on the earlier ID Crozz all-electric VW concept car, shown at the 2017 Frankfurt Show, click here.