Volkswagen’ product offering in the SUV segment has undergone quite a transformation in the past few months. In North America, this is entailed the end of the Touareg and the arrival of the Atlas, as well as the deep overhaul of the Tiguan to make it more oriented to our market.
In Europe, meanwhile, the German automaker has introduced two small SUVs that sit below the Tiguan in the company’s lineup. The T-Roc and the T-Cross were never intended for the North American market – to the chagrin of many.
We now know why, courtesy a report by Car and Driver magazine. According to it, Volkswagen is working on yet another small crossover that it will offer on our markets, this one of sub-compact size. It will compete directly with the Honda HR-V, Mazda CX-3 and Hyundai Kona, for example. The as-yet-unnamed new model will rest on the adjustable MQB platform that underpins a growing number of VW’s recent models.
While the arrival of a new small SUV may seem like great news for consumers who are clamouring for more vehicles of this type, what’s potentially worrisome here is that, like in the case of the Tiguan and Atlas, this new model is being designed specifically for the American market. And the reception for the revamped versions of the two larger SUVs has been mixed, with a common complaint being that they’ve lost many of the elements that set Volkswagens apart from others.
This is just speculation, of course, and we won’t know anything concrete until 2020, which is when the manufacturer intends to bring its new small crossover to market.
