Volkswagen welcomes two new babies

Resurgent Volkswagen is following through on its give-the-markets-what-they-want strategy, with both its Chinese and Brazilian arms both showing locally designed concept cars this week.

For China, it’s the A-SUV segment T-Rocstar, unveiled at the Guangzhou motor show. For Brazil, it’s the small Virtus sedan, to be built in Sao Paolo as part of a €1.8 billion push to build 13 new models in local plants by 2020.

The T-Rocstar concept is a halfway house piece of design to get locals used to the fact that they won’t be getting the European-built T-Roc micro-SUV, but something closer to local tastes.

“The T-Rocstar is a conceptual bridge between the European T-Roc SUV that was launched in September, and a China-specific version that is schedule for market launch in the summer of 2018,” said Volkswagen passenger cars, China, CEO, Dr Stephan Wöllenstein.

Designed largely for suburban work, the T-Rocstar will still sit on the high-rise version Golf’s MQB architecture and will be roughly the same size overall. That makes it smaller than the Chinese-built, seven-seat Teramont/Atlas that is the largest MQB machine Volkswagen makes.

The five-seat SUV is clad in what Volkswagen calls ‘Deep Gold’ paintwork inside and out and is 20mm wider than the T-Roc, largely due to its wheel-arches.

Riding on 245/45 R19 wheels and tyres, it scores dual front LED lights, LED rear lights, an 8.0-inch infotainment touch-screen unit and the fully digital active info display.

It’s also higher than the Golf that provides its basis, with the hip point sited 572mm from the ground in the front seats and 618mm in the rear.

The Virtus, on the other hand, is built to a purely Latin American audience and will be cheaper to build and to buy than the eventual production version of the T-Rocstar.

The 4.84-metre long Virtus has a 2.65-metre wheelbase and will be the first Volkswagen-branded car to support the driver with artificial intelligence, as the cooperation between Volkswagen and IBM’s IT group arrives at industrialization.

It seats five and has a 521-litre boot space.

"We have set ourselves a clear target: in all the key regions, Volkswagen intends to become the most attractive volume brand,” Volkswagen’s board member for Sales, Jürgen Stackmann, said.

“The Virtus shows how we are reinforcing the positioning of the brand in the regions. The new Volkswagen models, which will be precisely tailored to customers' wishes, will be quality and technology leaders in the volume segment.

“Over the next few years, we will be doing everything in our power to take Volkswagen back to the lead in the largest South American automobile market.”