Either as a relief or a deflection from diesel gloom (take your pick) Volkswagen has announced that it’s going to follow the lead of Land Rover’s Range Rover Evoque cabriolet and chop the top of its new T-Roc crossover.
Now, those of you who like to work on your tan on the school run can sit back down and relax - the T-Roc cabrio won’t be available until the first half of 2020, but VW has announced that it’s investing some €80-million in its factory in Osnabrück in north-west Germany to make the new model.
Dr. Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, says: "Volkswagen is evolving into an SUV brand. 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."
It’s all part of VW’s plan for SUV domination of the marketplace. By the time this convertible T-Roc goes on sale it will be one of 20 SUVs or crossovers in the Volkswagen lineup, representing around 40 per cent of the brand’s sales. Clearly it’s a strategy that’s working - the current Tiguan has just passed the 720,000 sales barrier, having been on sale for just over two years.
The T-Roc convertible won’t sell in those sorts of numbers - VW expects it to shift around 20,000 units a year, compared to the 40,000 orders already taken for the mainstream T-Roc since it was launched late last year.
The T-Roc convertible will join an eclectic mix of other models in the Osnabrück factory, which as well as the Tiguan, also builds Porsche’s Cayman sports car, and handles painting duties for the Skoda Fabia.
