The Indian automobile market has always appreciated cars with SUV-inspired design; the Renault Kwid is the biggest example of this. Volkswagen is going to launch the Tiguan soon, and it also teased its new compact SUV, the T-Roc recently. The T-Roc will go on sale in the international market this year and it would be a good idea to bring this SUV in the country in 2018.

The T-Roc got its first ever paparazzi fanfare at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, but back then it was in early stages of concept form. The latest teaser VW released shows the car wearing heavy camouflage on top of, what can safely be called, production-ready body panels.

The video shows the T-Roc cruising around on a trail surrounded by rocks on either side. You read that right. The trail itself is free from rocks of any size and is gravely at best, but for some reason, VW thinks that driving on a path surrounded by rocks is what people call off-roading. Although, the lack of off-road ability never stopped us from buying the front-wheel-drive Maruti Suzuki VitaraBrezza and the Ford EcoSport by the dozens. Along the same lines, the T-Roc will also pack a front-wheel drivetrain in lower trims, which works just fine in the urban jungle. However, the teaser confirms VW's intentions of offering an all-wheel drivetrain, as they said in 2014. Powertrain options are still unknown, but a 2.0-litre TDI with 184PS on tap paired to a 7-speed DSG was confirmed when VW took the wraps off the concept SUV three years ago. Enough has happened since then to endanger VW's TDI engines, which leads us to believe that VW might make TSI the mainstay for the SUV with TDI as an option.

The fact that the T-Roc employs VW's MQB platform makes it all the more likely to make it to India. Because of the modularity of the platform, VW can stretch or shrink it to accommodate anything from a 2-door hatchback to a full-blown station waggon. The MQB is also designed to fit a bunch of 3- and 4-cylinder powertrains in the VW family. The MQB currently does duty on the Skoda's Octavia and Superb and will also underpin the upcoming Audi Q2, Skoda Kodiaq, VW's Tiguan and the next-gen Polo among others.

We'll be happy to see the T-Roc in our showrooms. But VW could make us happier by bringing the T-Cross Breeze in the sub-4m guise to take on the leaders of the compact SUV segment. Because the rules are simple: go small if you want to go big.

Source: Zigwheels.com