T-Cross is Volkswagen’s winning small SUV recipe

Volkswagen are doing a little reinvent of themselves as a brand. They have made subtle changes to their old 3D logo and made it 2D so it can be better suited to digital use and are also allowing themselves to use it as any colour on any background.

Now you and I might not think this is a big deal, but for a German company that started out building cars, the Beetle, for the people some 80 years ago, and have not really changed their business recipe since. This is a huge step, companies spend a fortune on protecting their brand identity and dare you draw outside the lines so to speak, even just a tiny bit, you can feel the tightening of the chests back at HQ.

It’s not the late 1930s anymore, it’s almost 2020, and while Volkswagen continue to reinvent themselves and add some extra flair and youth into their brand, they haven’t forgot to keep bringing cars to the people that will over them.

The Polo Vivo and Polo are the top two selling passenger cars in this country. Sure, the haters will argue that the recipe I referred to earlier really never changes, model after model, a Golf stays a Golf, a Polo stays a Polo, but so what? People want, and like, to drive Volkswagens and the one thing people want more than this? To drive SUVs.

So, the clever people at Volkswagen have decided to bring a Polo-based compact SUV, called the T-Cross, to market. And I can tell you, there is just no way it isn’t going to sell like hot cakes. Sure, the business strategy is 100% solid, but they have also backed it up with a brilliant little offering.

At market launch, the T-Cross will only be available in a 1.0-litre TSI with 85 kW power and pricing that starts at R334 600. In the first quarter of 2020, the 110 kW 1.5-litre TSI will be introduced at R403 500, and in the second quarter the range will be completed with the introduction of the 70 kW engine entry level model that will debut just under R300 000.

The first thing you will notice is that the T-Cross does not look like a Polo on stilts, it has its own all new look that follows the company’s SUV family styling cues. And this makes the T-Cross very easy on the eyes, especially if you opt for the R17 850 R-Line Styling Package as per the pics you see attached to this story.

From the outside, the T-Cross is a few millimetres bigger here and there than the Polo and this translates to a fractionally larger interior, but don’t fool yourself, this is still very much a compact offering. Passenger space is acceptable, and luggage space borderline good enough for a weekend away for your young family.

The younger more vibey theme continues on the inside where you get funky colour options to go with a clean and functional look. Of course, you also get the full suite of connectivity from four USB ports to optional inductive wireless charging for your smartphone too. And if you are not done being young, you can fork out R8 800 and go for the 300-watt, eight-channel amplifier, subwoofer Beats sound system.

The more mature safety conscious part of you will appreciate the five star Euro NCAP rating and standard Driver Alert System that includes Front Assist area monitoring system, Lane Keeping Assist, Hill Start Assist, proactive occupant protection system, automatic adaptive cruise control, Park Assist and Blind Spot Detection lane change assist system with the integrated Rear Traffic Alert. Something that does remain unchanged are the equipment lines.

You get an entry level Trendline, a comprehensive spec Highline, and a racier R Line, and then what I guess will be the volume seller, a Comfortline. This was the model we drove at the car’s launch, and it runs a 1.0-litre, three-cyclinder turbocharged TSI engine that makes 85kW of power and 200Nm of torque through a seven-speed DSG. And as the numbers suggest, driving the T-Cross is never going to be a wild tyre shredding experience.

What the car lacks in ultimate pace, it makes up for in smooth, more than adequate drive. Volkswagen has Ford’s EcoSport and Renault’s Duster firmly in their sights with the T-Cross, and if I were them, I would be buttoning down the hatches, because this is not going to be pretty.

PRICING

The T-Cross comes standard with a three-year/120 000 km warranty and a three-year/45 000 km service plan.

T-Cross 1.0 TSI Comfortline DSG – R334 600

T-Cross 1.0 TSI Highline DSG – R365 000

T-Cross 1.5 TSI R-Line DSG – R403 500

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.