Geneva motor show: Volkswagen’s T-Cross opens for business

VW has expanded its plans for a multi-car SUV lineup by revealing this next-generation Polo-based crossover at the Geneva motor show.

The T-Cross Breeze concept leans heavily on the next Polo’s shortened MQB platform and, in spite of the convertible bodywork on the show car, will of course come to the market with a conventional five-door body. It will be positioned beneath another compact crossover, which will be closer in size to the Golf, and similar to last year’s T-Roc concept. It’s likely that both models will use the Tiguan name in some form, even though they will be separate to the already-announced Tiguan, Tiguan Coupe and seven-seat Tiguan.

The dramatic expansion of SUVs and crossovers is seen as critical to VW's ambitions in the US market, where its dealers have been crying out for some time for a broader range of 4x4s. VW will also produce a bigger Passat-based SUV, with seven seats, for the US market but it's not yet certain if that model will come to Europe.

Saloons still play a crucial role in VW's plans though, especially in the Chinese market, and VW used the Geneva show to unveil a large luxury saloon called the Phideon, which will be exclusively for China. Far from being a replacement for the current, slow-selling Phaeton (the replacement for that car is being worked on right now and is likely to be exclusively electrically-powered) the Phideon is actually based on the current Audi A6 platform and uses that car's 3.0-litre TFSI V6 and four-wheel-drive.

It’s not some stripped-out economy market special though - the Phideon will have a heads-up display, night-vision camera, all-round parking cameras and adaptive cruise control. It’ll be built in VW’s plant in Shanghai but there are no plans to bring it to Europe. The styling of the Phideon will come this way though - VW says it’s a big pointer towards the next-generation Phaeton.

Meanwhile, VW boss Matthias Mueller confirmed at the pre-show event that Volkswagen is working on a cutting-edge new electric car which could, potentially, be a game-changer for the entire car industry. Seen as being something of a penance for the recent diesel emissions scandal, the still-secret new car is reputed to be Golf-sized, have a one-charge range of 500km and a charge-up time of just 15mins.

According to Autocar magazine, the car has been described by VW insiders as a 'Golf for the digital age' but quite when it will appear is another matter. 2019 has been spoken of as a potential launch date, but Mueller poured a little cold water on that, saying that it could be 2025 before the technology is ready. Crucially, Mueller also said that the car would be cheaper to produce than a current petrol or diesel car, clearly banking on the cost of batteries and electric motors to reduce significantly in the next five years. "This is the future - nobody can say when it is a reality but we are working on it" said Mueller to the assembled press corps.

The VW Group, including Audi and Porsche, already has concrete plans for launches of 500km-range electric models, including the Porsche Mission-E and Audi Q6 e-Tron quattro, by 2018, but these are larger, very expensive models filled with batteries. The technical and cost challenges of meeting the Golf-sized, 500km, affordable model will be significant indeed.