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.
Further up the ladder will come VW’s Golf-based T-Roc SUVs. Based on the MQB A platform, the T-Roc also gets a swoopy profile and a modern grille-and-headlight combo that stretches across the nose of the SUV. Oversized wheel arches, earlier a strong VW design cue, are carried over on the SUV range now and the big round fog is likely to be the T-Roc’s own signature. The T- Roc, however, is unlikely to be as large as the recently revealed Tiguan (in production form), that will sit above it in the pecking order.
Already slated for sale in India in 2017, the Tiguan is built on the even larger MQB A+ platform and will come with a wheelbase that is 10mm longer than that of the T-Roc. Powered by a combination of diesel and petrol that are expected to put out in the region of 177 and 182hp each, both versions will get twin clutch automatics.
The Tiguan will also get a longer wheelbase version, now officially known as the Tiguan XL, headed to markets like the US and China. Though slated for sale in India too, the XL version could eventually prove to be too expensive for our market.
Also sharing the MQB A+ platform is Skoda’s recently revealed Vision S concept. Badged the Kodiaq (oversized grizzly bear from Kodiak island in Alaska), the new SUV carries design cues that preview Skoda’s all-new SUV design language. This differs slightly from that seen on Skoda’s new cars as it has a much shallower grille and headlights that streak back. Skoda designers have also used a unique secondary light in a recessed area under the main headlight. Expected to hit Indian showrooms somewhere in mid-2017, it is likely to be positioned alongside the new Superb; meaning we can expect a price between Rs 22 lakh and Rs 30 lakh.
Skoda is already positioning its brand differently in India and part of the reason is its new range of SUVs. It has taken up the tag of ‘value luxury’ and its new range of SUVs is a possible reason. As with all Skodas, you’ll get loads of value for money with the new Kodiaq. To begin with, it’s big, measuring 4.7 metres in length, somewhere between an X3 and an X5, and the wheelbase also measures a large 2760mm. Expected to come powered by a 193hp diesel and a 223hp petrol, the Skoda is likely to get a six- and seven-speed DSG box for the diesel and the petrol (the VW group’s 10-speed DQ511 was earlier slated to go on this car). On the inside, the cabin won’t have a completely ‘glass cockpit’ as on the show car (see photo below). Skoda insiders have, however, confirmed that production versions could get a 12-inch digital instrument panel as well as a vertically aligned 8-inch screen in the central console; which will mark a considerable departure from the brand’s current interiors. And there will be both five- and seven-seater versions of the same.
Next on the list is the yet-to-be-revealed new Skoda Yeti. Whereas many Skodas have shared a close link with VW cars in the past, the new Yeti is closely linked to another VW group car; Seat’s new Ateca. This has allowed both companies to share redevelopment costs needed to make both their SUVs more cost effective. While the final form of the car hasn’t been officially released, Skoda has all but confirmed that the new Yeti will be quite different from the current car which was clearly quite off-center. More traditional in its dimension and general approach, the new Yeti will be longer, larger and more spacious on the inside. The length of the car is expected to be 4.36 metres and it’s likely use a wheelbase that measures approximately 2600mm, making it considerably longer and more spacious on the inside than the current car.
And there’s more. Up next is the upsized-for-the-US, 4.9 metres-long Cross Blue concept-based SUV, likely to go on sale in China as well. And let’s not forget the all-new Touareg that’s likely to be built on the updated MLB Evo platform currently shared by Porsche, Audi and others.