Calling All Millennials

Bigger than a Juke, smaller than a Qashqai and funkier than both, VW’s new SUV is aimed squarely at Generation Y. 

- Jake Groves

HAVE WE REACHED peak crossover yet? Volkswagen certainly doesn’t think so. Wolfsburg says that one in three cars sold globally are now SUVs and the segment will grow in the coming years – a point emphasised by the T-Roc you see here effectively taking over the ageing Scirocco coupe’s production line at the Portuguese production facility.

The funky T-Roc is of course just one small part of VW’s massive SUV product offensive that’s been on the boil since 2016 when the new Tiguan came out. Since then, we’ve seen a seven-seat Tiguan Allspace, the massive Atlas in the US and Teramont in China, plus there are plans for an even smaller T-Cross (VW’s answer to the Seat Arona driven in this issue) next year and a fresh Touareg too. The T-Roc crosses over established soft-roader sizes – it’s larger than a Nissan Juke, but smaller than a Qashqai, for example.

The T-Roc’s main headline is the huge scope for customisation. There are 24 different exterior colour combos to choose from – everything from dishwasher white to baby-sick yellow metallic (pictured) and sky blue – that you can then match to a few roof colour options.