Volkswagen India Director: T-Cross Compact SUV under consideration as Hyundai Creta rival

Volkswagen India MD Steffen Knapp has revealed that the T-Cross SUV is being considered for a launch in India. Here, it will compete with the Hyundai Creta and the Renault Duster. Though Volkswagen has shown the T-Cross as a concept, the final production version is yet to be showcased. The SUV will be shown in 2018, and will go on sale internationally from that year.

This is what Mr. Steffen Knapp, Director of Volkswagen India, said,

In the (Hyundai) Creta range, as we announced in Frankfurt, we have a car called the (VW) T-Cross. So, that’s one solution we are looking for India.

For India, don’t expect it to land here anytime before 2020. That is because Volkswagen has appointed Skoda to decontent the MQB platform to make it suitable for the Indian market. The decontented MQB platform will be called Eco. If Volkswagen decides to green light The T-Cross SUV for India, it will be built on the Eco platform. Both petrol and diesel engined variants are expected in India.

The petrol engine is likely to be a 1 liter TSI turbocharged petrol engine with 100 PS and Volkswagen is expected to use a new 1.5 liter diesel engine. This is because the current 1.5 liter TDI turbocharged diesel engine will be phased out by 2020, when the new Bharat Stage 6 emission norms come into effect. Volkswagen is developing a new BS6 compliant diesel engine for the Indian market. That engine will power the diesel T-Cross here.

Manual and twin clutch automatic transmissions are expected on this vehicle. In terms of size, the concept version of the T-Cross measures 4,133 mm in length, 1,798 mm in width, 1,563 mm in height, and 2,565 mm in terms of wheelbase. The production version is expected to retain similar dimensions. This size will make the T-Cross a compact SUV but not a sub-4 meter model. So, don’t expect it to be very cheap. Since it is a Volkswagen, prices are likely to be similar to the Creta, which means a starting price of around 9 lakhs.

Via CarDekho

Render courtesy QuatroRodas