Coming to South Africa in 2027: Wraps come off Volkswagen Tera

Teased sporadically since September last year, Volkswagen has finally removed the wraps from the all-new Tera in Brazil as the first sighting of the related model that will be assembled in South Africa from 2027.

Joint partnership

Shown as part of the opening of the Rio Carnival in the early hours of yesterday morning South African time, the unveiling didn’t involve any technical or specification details being divulged as it was described as a preview rather than the official launch.

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Set to be positioned between the Nivus and T-Cross and not below the former – known locally as the Taigo – the Tera forms part of a joint venture between Brazil, India and South Africa in producing an SUV for developing markets where the transition towards electrification had been slower than in Europe.

Unique looks

On-track to eventually replace – though this is still speculative – the T-Cross that will be phased out in favour of the ID.2X in Europe next year, the Tera incorporates a Volkswagen specific styling language that bears some resemblance to other European and Chinese products, but which are overall unique to it.

Completely different from its Skoda Kylaq sibling that premiered in India last year as well, the Tera features aesthetic inputs from the Tiguan, Tayron and Taos, but with a noticeably wider stance, different headlight with integrated LEDs, a unique bumper and faux air inlets in the case of the sporty R-Line.

Appearing similar to the T-Roc when viewed from the side, the almost coupe-like Tera boasts a concave character line from the rear door back, a slanted rear window and a full-width LED light bar connecting the main clusters that resemble those of the South American-spec Polo.

Known to ride on the same MQB A0 as its Polo, T-Cross, Nivus/Taigo and Kylaq siblings, the interior, again not detailed, falls in-line with that of the former pair with the same steering wheel, gear lever and instrument cluster, but a different infotainment system that comes directly from the Kylaq.

Up front

Up front, and as reported previously, the Tera will derive motivation from the 1.0 TSI engine, but with decreased outputs compared to the Kylaq as a means of being compatible with both petrol and ethanol.

Fuelled by the latter, the unit will develop 85kW/170Nm and will be mated to either a six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed Tiptronic depending on the trim level.

Accordingly, the more powerful 96kW/200Nm tuning of the same engine used on the facelift Nivus and Virtus, sold in South Africa as the Polo Sedan, won’t be made available as a result of costs that would lead to overlapping with the former as well as the T-Cross.

Tera’s meaning for South Africa

Its official price and launch is reportedly happening in May, according to motor1.com Brazil, the Tera, as indicated earlier, will enter local production in 2026 before going on-sale officially in 2027.

The main reason for Wolfsburg’s record R4-billion investment into its Kariega Plant in the Eastern Cape last year, the Tera will be marketed under a different name selected via public participation by means of a dedicated online portal that will go live this month.

A pre-production model is expected to debut next year when the brand holds its third annual product Indaba at its factory in the town previously known as Uitenhage, now Kariega, before production starts.

Before that, a shutdown of the factory will take place between mid-April and May this year for the installation of 100 robots to manufacture it alongside the Polo and Polo Vivo.

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