Synonymous with freedom and perfect for airing out ideas, convertibles had their hour of glory. Subsequently, SUVs and other crossovers imposed themselves on our roads and in our cities. Volkswagen, in a madness we are not used to, had the idea of mixing the best of both worlds.
At Volkswagen, the choice is wide. From the city car Up! to the premium Touareg SUV, including compact SUVs, station wagons, compacts and sedans, the German brand has a rich catalog for prospects. Usually renowned for its inflexible pragmatism, Volkswagen has yet in its range a vehicle whose very existence surprises.
The VW T-Roc compact SUV is halfway between the very compact Taigo and the famous Tiguan. Priced from €26,700, this cute compact SUV rival of the Peugeot 2008 and others benefits from an original coupé/cabriolet version. If the idea of a crossover, a vehicle with an adventurous look, is essential for manufacturers, one wonders what happened at Volkswagen to produce a 3-door SUV with a soft top.
Not necessarily practical for families, nor as sporty as a small Mazda MX-5 or Alpine A110 Cab coupe, the T-Roc is neither family nor sporty, and one wonders what the target of this rolling UFO is.
A surprising success
The VW T-Roc will not remain in the brand’s archives on the shelf of “projects too ambitious to succeed”, since this amazing car is selling, so well that it is the best-selling convertible on the Old Continent, ahead of the MX-5 and A110. Between January and July 2023, the brand sold 8,732 units of its SUV, twice as many as the MX-5 (4,570) and four times as many as the most exclusive A110 Cab (2,155).
Volkswagen manages to sell the ideal car to go down to the beach by car, hair in the wind and negligently stowed surfboard, a bit like the Méhari in its time. Although, from €40,270, this convertible version is expensive to pay for its eccentricity, despite a generous standard endowment, especially compared to a standard T-Roc marketed from €26,700, certainly less well equipped, but more versatile. . Regardless, convertibles are great cars and we hope that the competition will follow suit to resurrect this segment that is now deserted. And why not see an electric coupé/cabriolet soon…