So far, Land Rover is the only carmaker currently in the SUV convertible market with the Range Rover Evoque Convertible. Nissan was the first to take a stab at it with the ill-fated Murano CrossCabriolet, and now Volkswagen wants to have a slice of that pie with a soft-top version of its T-Roc.
The new variant was confirmed for a launch in the first half of 2020 during a Volkswagen Group board meeting, and Wolfsburg has released a sketch to give us a preview of what to expect. Essentially, it’s a T-Roc shorn of its rear doors and metal roof, and in their place is a folding fabric top and a very short rear deck.
Volkswagen said that over €80 million will be invested into its Osnabrück plant – which currently assembles the Tiguan and the Porsche Cayman – for the production of the new model, including a complete modernisation of the factory’s production technology, assembly and logistics. The company expects an eventual production volume of up to 20,000 units per year.
“Volkswagen is evolving into an SUV brand,” said CEO Herbert Diess. “The T-Roc is already setting new standards in the compact SUV segment. With the cabriolet based on the T-Roc, we will be adding a highly emotional model to the range. I am especially pleased to note that we can count on the Osnabrück team’s decades of experience with convertibles. The Osnabrück plant now has bright prospects for the future.”
Expect the cabrio to come with the same range of three petrol and three diesel engines as the standard T-Roc, with outputs ranging between 115 PS and 190 PS. There should also be the option of either a six-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch transmission, as well as the 4Motion all-wheel drive system on certain models.
The T-Roc cabriolet will be part of Volkswagen’s SUV offensive, which will see the world’s largest carmaker expand its lineup of soft-roaders to 20 models by 2020. By then, it is expected that 40% of all vehicles sold by Volkswagen are to be made up of SUVs.
GALLERY: Volkswagen T-Roc
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