Laura Berry

Senior Journalist

3 min read

Volkswagen’s new-generation T-Roc small SUV has made its world debut showing off its new shape, tech and powertrains ahead of its arrival in Australia.

The T-Roc may be small but it's Volkswagen’s biggest selling car in Australia behind the Amarok ute. The small SUV is getting larger, though. This second generation T-Roc has grown 12cm longer in length, but it’s still a compact 4373mm end to end, which VW said translated to more cabin room and a bigger boot at an impressive 475 litres.

As you’d expect of any new-gen model the exterior has been overhauled with the T-Roc now looking like a mini version of the Tiguan mid-sized SUV.

Read More About Volkswagen T-ROC

Inside the T-Roc’s cabin has stepped further into more premium-looking territory with soft materials and ambient lighting,  which Volkswagen said added a ‘lounge-like atmosphere”. New cabin tech includes a larger 13-inch media screen and an optional head up display. 

What you can’t see is the MQB evo platform the new T-Roc is built on — the same architecture the Tiguan uses. The platform gives the new T-Roc some advanced tech capabilities including autonomous lane changing and improved self parking with remote smart phone control.

New powertrains accompany the new T-Roc’s arrival with 1.5-litre turbo petrol mild hybrid variants in two states of tune — 85kW and 110kW — for front-wheel drive versions.

A more powerful 2.0-litre mild hybrid will join the line-up at a later date, and will be fitted to all-wheel drive R variants. A T-Roc R is confirmed, too, and it will retain its crown as the angriest and quickest in the range with the most amount of grunt. 

You won't find any purely electric variants here, with Volkswagen keeping EVs for its I.D. range of vehicles. That said this generation of the T-Roc could be the last combustion powered version.

New colours for the T-Roc range include Canary Yellow, Celestial Blue metallic, Flamed Red metallic, and Grenadilla Black metallic. 

The new-gen T-Roc launches in Europe this November, and CarsGuide has reached out to Volkswagen Australia to confirm timing and prices for a local launch here.

Australian pricing and specifications will no doubt be announced closer to the new T-Roc’s arrival here, but expect it to be more expensive than the current version's $38,990 starting point.

Laura Berry

Senior Journalist

Laura Berry is a best-selling Australian author and journalist who has been reviewing cars for more than 15 years. Much more of a Hot Wheels girl than a Matchbox one, she grew up in a family that would spend every Friday night sitting on a hill at the Speedway watching sprint cars slide in the mud. The best part of this was being given money to buy stickers. She loved stickers… which then turned into a love of tattoos. Out of boredom, she learnt to drive at 14 on her parents’ bush property in what can only be described as a heavily modified Toyota LandCruiser.   At the age of 17 she was told she couldn’t have a V8 Holden ute by her mother, which led to Laura and her father laying in the driveway for three months building a six-cylinder ute with more horsepower than a V8.   Since then she’s only ever owned V8s, with a Ford Falcon XW and a Holden Monaro CV8 part of her collection over the years. Laura began her career as a journalist in the entertainment industry writing about music for The South China Morning Post; television for tvChoice; fashion and celebrities for The Mirror before combining her passion for cars with her profession and moved into motoring. In 2008 she joined News Custom Publishing as Managing Editor of its motoring titles, including Australia’s Best Cars and the official programs for V8 Supercars, Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix. In 2011 she joined CarsGuide (for the first time), back when it was part of a newspaper, and learnt to test and review cars. This followed a move to Motor as Production Editor, then Wheels as News Editor while also writing for Street Machine and Top Gear Australia. As the media landscape shifted she left print journalism and joined online motoring publication GoAuto as a senior writer. A brief stint in automotive public relations then followed before she joined CarsGuide in 2015 (for the second time) as Senior Journalist where she remains to this day. A wife and mother, and author of two books, her current daily driver is a chopped 1951 Ford Tudor with a V8, of course. You can find Laura on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram. Expertise Performance and custom cars Family cars and SUVs Education Bachelor of Arts | Macquarie University Featured Publications The Mirror (UK) | 2002-2006 South China Morning Post | 2004-2006 tvChoice (UK) | 2004-2006 TVQuick (UK) | 2004-2006 Mercedes-Benz Magazine | 2005-2006 Australia’s Best Cars | 2008-2010 V8 Supercars Official Program | 2008-2010 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix Official Program | 2008-2010 Australian MotoGP Official Program | 2008-2010 Motor | 2012-2013 Street Machine | 2012-2015 Wheels | 2013 Top Gear | 2013-2014 GoAuto | 2014-2015 CarsGuide | 2015-present
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