Volkswagen’s plant in Paraná, Brazil has begun operating in two shifts in order to boost production of the new T-Cross SUV. The move to increase production comes following VW Brazil’s announcement earlier in the year that the brand would start exporting the T-Cross to over 50 countries.
As per the previous announcement, VW South America CEO Pablo Di Si had revealed that the carmaker planned to export the T-Cross to countries across Latin America, Africa, Asia and even some countries in Europe.
The T-Cross is sold in global markets in two different lengths, with both models based on VW’s MQB A0 platform – the model for Europe is shorter in length than its counterpart for developing markets.
Volkswagen is set to bring the T-Cross to India sometime in 2020-2021 as a part of its India 2.0 plan, which will see a host of new model launches from VW and sister brand Skoda – the plan is set to kick off with the launch of the India-spec Skoda Kamiq SUV.
The T-Cross for India is expected to similar to the SUV manufactured in Brazil (it’ll have beefier styling cues compared to the European model) along with similar dimensions (the T-Cross for Brazil is larger than the model manufactured in Europe). The India-spec T-Cross, however, will use a heavily localised India-specific iteration of VW’s MQB A0 platform (MQB A0 IN) to keep costs in check.
Under the hood, the T-Cross for India will get two petrol engines. The mainstay will be a 130hp, 1.5-litre, four-cylinder EVO TSI motor equipped with cylinder-deactivation technology, which would appeal to mileage-conscious buyers. The other engine option will be the brand’s 115hp, 1.0-litre, three-cylinder TSI unit. VW currently has no plans to offer a diesel engine, though it is considering introducing a CNG variant. Mild-hybrid technology could also be on the cards but it’s only likely to arrive with the facelift of T-Cross.
When it goes on sale in the country, the India-spec VW T-Cross will rival the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Tata Harrier and the upcoming Kia SP2 SUV.
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Dipan Sur
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Glenn Noronha
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