T-Roc marks Volkswagen’s latest move towards glamour

Compact crossover follows the Arteon as part of the plan to establish the German marque as a fancier interpretation of generalist automaker

Danillo Almeida
Aug 26, 2017 · 6 min read

In a first glance, this can be considered one of the least surprising releases of the year. After all, it’s yet another addition to a category which has swollen enough to deserve being subdivided into several others according to the car’s size — and now sees such subcategories getting big as well. The T-Roc slots below the Tiguan on the lineup, which makes it Polo’s counterpart. If things go well, it’ll have the company of an even smaller, up!-derived brother soon. However, it becomes actually interesting when we learn that it’s one of the first Volkswagen in years which can’t be defined merely by its position in the lineup.

The Wolfsburg-based automaker has always been typically generalist. In other words, most of the cars it offers belong to regular urban categories, such as hatchback and sedan, and focus on being reliable and efficient, rather than offering innovative details or breathtaking design. There have been exceptions, such as XL1 and Beetle, but the bulk of the profits has always come from the likes of Golf and Passat. While this strategy makes sales performance steady, it’s not the best when it comes to long term because it wears off people’s interest in the brand: anyone who wants their purchase to be even a little bit emotional goes to the competitors.

In this particular case, that problem becomes even more serious because the Volkswagen group has not one, but three generalist branches — and their market distinction is hardly as clear as one would expect. In the end, the company competes in each generalist segments with two or three different car models, which is definitely harmful to financial health. Fortunately, it seems like people in Volkswagen have finally noticed that: the Arteon and the T-Roc are the first steps to make their brand more glamorous and emotional, to some extent, and to set it apart from Spanish and Czech sisters Seat and Škoda when it comes to customer perception.

Some months ago, the Arteon did that by offering a much stronger personality than that of its predecessor, the CC. The latter debuted back when four-door coupés weren’t a thing yet, so VW opted to present it as a mere variation of the Passat (its first iteration was named Passat CC). By the time of its mid-cycle facelift, such care was no longer necessary, so it tried and separated it from the sedan. Now, the Germans decided to follow through and emancipate the model by using a new name. And while they were at it, they made it a true Gran Turismo of the non-luxury market, with style elements and dynamic behavior of its own.

The T-Roc could be defined simply as a crossover but, in the current automotive market, that’s no longer enough. It belongs to the subcategory named “compact crossover”, which means it’ll attempt to seduce customers away from Buick Encore, Fiat 500X, Ford EcoSport, Hyundai Creta and Kona, Kia KX3, Jeep Renegade, Opel/Vauxhall Mokka X, Peugeot 2008 and many others, depending on where will it be sold. Compact crossovers came to deserve being analyzed as a separate category not so much because it has many members, but because these have several characteristics which distinguish them from other crossovers.

These cars naturally lack the size to transport many people and, since they’re supposed to be relatively cheap, also lack the powertrain to seduce performance fans, the structure to do wonders off road, and the luxury to entice wealthier buyers. On the other hand, they are also nimble enough to make maneuvering easy, similar enough to urban cars (especially hatchbacks) to become able to borrow their parts, and cheap enough to be attractive to customers of many car categories at once. The T-Roc’s features look like the result of an extensive analysis of what composes typical compact crossovers… and what can make them better than “typical”.

Thee newcomer sports external shapes which make it the closest to a coupé one will find in this category. The sloped C-pillars, the smooth contours, the lack of chrome or red accents and even the flashy colors. Everything converges to make the T-Roc one of “the cool guys” of the group — which is not a minor accomplishment for Volkswagen. Looking at this car can easily make one think of young adults getting together to go clubbing or to a beach, instead of a family getting ready for a picnic on Sunday morning. If the automaker gives it the right trim levels and special editions, such image will only become stronger over the years.

When it comes to the rational characteristics, Volkswagen has them covered simply for using the MQB-A0, just like the Polo: it’s the low-cost version of the platform which underpins almost all new VW cars which sit above those two in the lineup. That means the T-Roc shares pretty much all mechanical parts with other models of the Group, so there will be no surprises regarding options, performance and maintenance. Having chosen the MQB-A0 means the crossover won’t be as refined as the Golf, for instance, but this is actually positive: it drives its production costs down, so its customer prices should stay vis-à-vis with the standard of the category.

As it turns out, Volkswagen’s latest concoction features design elements which cater to the tastes of young buyers, technical specifications which comply with the highest standards of this industry, and yet keeps its prices competitive through the use of clever manufacturing techniques. At the same time, it doesn’t bother to offer extensive preparation regarding off-road activities, high-performance driving or overall luxury. In other words, the T-Roc has everything which the typical buyer of this category wants while leaving aside everything which they don’t really want. That is, precisely, its most distinctive characteristic.

What makes all that “glamorous”, as the title states, is the fact that the T-Roc entices its target audience by freeing it from making concessions. Next to it, some models will seem too sporty, others too bland, too fancy and so on. This means that Volkswagen has developed another car model which attempts to excel at satisfying one type of customer, rather than making it good at everything (but great at nothing) and hoping it’ll attract people of many kinds. Being aware of how different customers are and making the effort to actually embrace that are two of the most important characteristics which compose a truly high-standard manufacturer.

The biggest flaw one can see on this vehicle is having arrived late. The crossover category in general was founded around the early 2000s and one can say the compact subcategory was spawned a decade later than that. However, it’s necessary to remember that the automotive market is made of constant evolution. There will always be room for car models which set trends as well as for those which only follow them, provided that both are done well. The T-Roc might be received by its target audience simply as yet another crossover, but it does have traits which render it capable of elevating the standards of this kind

)
Danillo Almeida

Written by

Writer and future engineer striving to work with car design. If you like cars but not the stereotypes that surround them, give my articles a try.

Car Design Chronicles

Automotive styling broken down into short and simple posts, each one based on a recent event of the industry

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade