Volkswagen's smallest crossover to date is inching closer to its world reveal as the Wolfsburg squad has kicked off the teaser campaign. Dubbed T-Cross after the namesake concept from the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, the production-ready model will be revealed in full this fall. To ease the wait until then, an official design sketch depicting the CUV's rear end has been released, along with a video that gave us the opportunity to take some screenshots and see more of the Arona's German sibling.
Riding on the same MQB A0 platform as SEAT's subcompact crossover, the new T-Cross will be 4107 millimeters (161.69 inches) long and is going to slot underneath the T-Roc. Despite its petite size, VW promises the cabin will offer a "surprising amount of room" and rear passengers will get to enjoy extra knee room thanks to the sliding bench, which can also be brought forward to free up additional cargo capacity.
Another promise made by VW is to make the T-Cross one of the safest crossovers in its class thanks to standard safety tech like Front Assist and Lane Assist.
In regards to styling, the front end design is not much of a surprise as it follows the same theme first seen on the Arteon and then on the Touareg luxury SUV, with the wide grille meeting the headlights. The back of the T-Cross is more interesting as we get to see what spy shots have failed to reveal because of the camouflage: full-width taillights.
VW isn't willing to preview the interior just yet, but we have a feeling it will be largely inherited from the Polo. Speaking of which, the supermini is expected to lend its three-cylinder 1.0 TSI and four-cylinder 1.5 TSI engines, and maybe the 1.6-liter TDI as well, unless the diesel will be absent much like in the case of the gasoline-only Fabia facelift.
It's unclear at this point whether an optional all-wheel-drive layout will be offered, but we won't be too surprised if the T-Cross will be FWD-only since you can count the number of AWD subcompact crossovers on just one hand.
A debut this fall doesn't necessarily mean the T-Cross will be at the 2018 Paris Motor Show in October considering latest reports are indicating the VW core brand won't be in the City Of Light where a series of other automakers will also be missing.
