2019 Volkswagen T-Cross SUV teased

Volkswagen has previewed the final design of its new T-Cross compact SUV, which will be officially revealed in full this Friday.

The German car-maker took to Twitter overnight to reveal the T-Cross’ headlights and daytime running lights, while also lifting the lid on what paint options will be available when the small crossover reaches Australia in the second half of 2019.

Previous design sketches hinted the T-Cross would borrow heavily from the larger T-Roc, however designers appear to have imbued the baby SUV with a decidedly distinctive appearance highlighted by customisable colours inside and out.

The T-Cross, which motoring.com.au has driven in prototype form, will be Volkswagen’s smallest offering to-date, competing in a segment already occupied by the Mitsubishi ASX, Mazda CX-3, Hyundai Kona, Holden Trax and, soon, an entrant from Kia codenamed the SP2.

Based on the same AO platform as the Polo city-car, the T-Cross has been busy testing in the lead-up to its unveiling on October 26, Australian time.

Volkswagen says the T-Cross will be one of the safest vehicles in its segment, thanks to installation of a City Emergency Braking system with pedestrian detection, which is set to be standard fitment and uses a sensor to detect other vehicles and pedestrians.

The T-Cross will be powered by a range of three-cylinder engines and will be front-drive only. Not counting the Golf or Passat Alltrack crossovers, it will be Volkswagen Australia’s fourth SUV model, following the Tiguan, Tiguan Allspace and Touareg, and the fifth globally including the larger Golf-based T-Roc.

Volkswagen Australia has ruled out the T-Roc SUV for now but says the T-Cross will arrive in Aussie showrooms in the second half of next year.

“It gives us coverage in a segment where Volkswagen hasn’t previously had coverage,” Volkswagen Australia spokesman Paul Pottinger recently told motoring.com.au.

“We’re really just getting on the SUV bandwagon and the T-Cross is very much part of our plans. In the meantime we’ll be bringing out the Tiguan Wolfsburg edition. That will be our next SUV to roll out.”