Right after unveiling its refreshed Santana, Volkswagen Philippines is teasing yet another product offering for this year; this time it looks to be the T-Cross sub-compact SUV.
Although VW Philippines has yet to confirm anything specific, a quick tweak of their shadowy teaser reveals that it indeed looks like the T-Cross (see original photo left and altered photo right).
If that’s the case, the T-Cross is Volkswagen’s smallest SUV. It rides on the MQB A0 platform which underpins vehicles such as the Audi A1. Now, it makes a whole lot of business sense if VW sources the T-Cross from their SAIC joint-venture in China—where vehicles such as the Santana, Lavida, Lamando, and Tiguan are made. A quick Google search reveals that yes, the T-Cross is made there (and we spent a good amount of time with it at the Shanghai Auto Show in 2019).
With that piece of the puzzle fitting in perfectly, what sort of specs can the Philippines expect?
In China, the T-Cross is available with two engines: a normally-aspirated 1.5-liter or a turbocharged 1.4-liter. Enthusiasts would certainly want the 1.4 TSI, however, this is unlikely since it’ll be sharing the same engine as the larger and more expensive Tiguan 280 TSI. The safe bet would the non-boosted 1.5-liter which means it’ll make about 113 horsepower and 145 Nm of torque. Oh, and while a 5-speed manual is available, the 6-speed automatic is a strongest candidate. Zero to 100 km/h time is pegged at 13.3 seconds, while top speed is at 185 km/h.
The T-Cross is also available in various grades. For the Philippine market though, expect Volkswagen to adopt the strategy employed by their sister company, Kia with their Stonic. That being the case, expect at least two variants—the entry-level Fashion and the mid-trim Comfort.
The Fashion gets LED taillights, 16-inch alloy wheels, and black roof rails as standard, while the Comfort adds front fog lamps, panoramic sunroof, silver roof rails, and 17-inch alloy wheels. VW might also throw buyers a bone and offer it with the “Intelligent Vision” package which bundles a push start/stop system and rear parking camera.
Now, the question is…how about the price? Well, the T-Cross 1.5 Fashion AT starts at 127,900 yuan or about P 961,000, while the T-Cross 1.5 Comfort AT comes out at 139,900 yuan or P 1.05 million. Factoring in a 3 to 7 percent premium (as seen in the Santana’s Philippine SRP versus China SRP), expect the T-Cross to start at around P 990,000 going up to P 1.12 million.
VW Philippines should bring the T-Cross TSi Engine and not the anemic 1.5L Gas engine. Ayala Company always have preservation when it's come to Car engine choices. And look at the sales chart they are way off of their target. Look at the new Maxus D60. Lack of tech toys compared to Geely Okavango.
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