Volkswagen, Skoda plan massive SUV assault

Volkswagen and Skoda plan to launch no less than nine SUVs in the not-so-distant future. While we’d been hearing plenty of rumours about the group’s impending SUV assault, details are now emerging of massive push for new SUVs, the sheer breadth and scale of which is difficult to fathom. Inspired by the success of sister brand Audi, that today already has a range of three SUVs (with at least another four on the way), VW has announced that it too will literally populate every niche with an SUV. To help reduce complexity and cost, the group plans to fully leverage the flexibility of its common MQB platform that allows the sharing of major parts and modules between cars of varying sizes. Whereas the modular common front-wheel-drive platform is known to the outside world as just MQB, it is internally divided into distinct sub-platforms, and the VW group plans to have multiple SUVs on each.

The range, for now, is likely to kick off with the introduction of the T-Cross and T-Cross Breeze based SUVs. Recently revealed at the Geneva show, this pair will be built around the MQB A0 (zero) platform shared with cars like the all-new Polo. The SUV, in four-door form and with plenty of tech and quality on offer, is expected to be a Hyundai Creta fighter. VW’s new range of SUVs will also get an all-new look and design language. The T-Cross, for example, is a clear departure from VW’s current style sheet and comes with more muscular and sinewy lines. The nose of the car is extremely modern with an all-new grille and headlight combo. The block-like nose and chin of the car is well defined with square LED surrounds for the fogs and the flanks have large, properly fleshed out wheel arches, made possible due to the flexible MQB platform. The T-Cross concept currently carries an extremely high-tech interior that eschews push buttons in favour of soft-touch surfaces and touchscreens and some of these systems are likely to be introduced on the production car as well. The T-Cross SUV is also likely to be pretty spacious. This is because the stance of the car is quite upright, and so, like a tall boy, there’s likely to be more than sufficient space in the rear. In global markets, VW is likely to use a three-cylinder 1.0-litre TSI petrol, but for India, the T-Cross is likely to get the localised 1.2 TSI four-cylinder motor with a similar amount of power (112hp) and a retuned and more powerful version of the 1.5 TDI (117hp) that’s currently made here. What VW India will also be quite bullish about is the fact that its Polo-based compact SUV will allow for a higher margin than the new-gen Polo, whose costing VW India is struggling to get right.

Though there aren’t many details, Skoda is also hard at work putting together its version of a MQB A0-based SUV. Slated to hold a position slightly lower than the VW, both companies are likely to work on the project together in India, as they had done with the Vento/Rapid sedans. The design will be quite different though, this time around, and the Skoda is likely to have a space-efficient cabin, in line with its brand’s ideals.