By Otsile Kadiege

The Volkswagen T-Cross sits at the bottom of the automaker’s T-SUV line-up and competes in the hotly contested B-segment. In a bid to remain competitive in the subcompact crossover SUV segment, Volkswagen spruced up the T-Cross with a revamped design, enhanced standard equipment, new technology features and a newly designed interior.

Exterior updates

From the outside, the updated T-Cross is immediately recognisable by the new design of its front and rear with new integrated LED headlights, LED daytime running lights and LED taillight clusters. The IQ.LIGHT LED matrix headlights are a completely new Volkswagen development and are offered for the first time on the T-Cross. Three new, fresh colours have been added to the model range, namely solid colour Grape Yellow, Clear Blue Metallic and the Golf 8 GTI’s launch colour – Kings Red Metallic.

Interior design and technology updates

The central element in the interior of the facelifted T-Cross is the free-standing infotainment display. The standard touchscreen measures 8.0-inches while the top-of-the-range version has a 9.2-inch display. In addition, all versions of the T-Cross will now be fitted with digital instruments as standard.

The dash panel in the T-Cross has also undergone a complete redesign – as in larger VW models, the dash panel features soft-upholstered and significantly higher-quality surface materials. The same applies to the front door trims of the Style and R-Line versions. A manual air conditioning system is on board as standard, and the Air Care Climatronic automatic air conditioner with back-lit touch sliders is available as an option.

When all the seats are occupied, the T-Cross offers a luggage compartment capacity of between 385 and up to 455 litres when loaded up to the height of the rear bench seat. When the rear bench seat is folded down (60:40 split), this creates a flat load area with a stowage volume of up to 1,281 litres (loaded up to the height of the front seat backrests).

Powertrains

Powering the updated is a 1.0-litre TSI and 1.5-litre TSI engines. The former develops two outputs – 70kW and 85kW while the slightly larger displacement develops 110kW.

Availability

Volkswagen South Africa is yet to announce local availability, specifications and pricing.