This is supposed to be it. A lineage that started amid the ashes of the second World War, with a 700cc flat-four air-cooled engine delivering just 36hp, is about to end with a choice of mild-hybrid and, soon, full-hybrid 1.5-litre power. Is the new T-Roc really Volkswagen’s last all-combustion model, though?
It’s certainly supposed to be, but then many things were supposed to be. The T-Roc itself was originally supposed to overtake the venerable Golf hatchback in sales terms, when it was first launched in 2017. That never quite happened, and if it did, the success was fitful. You’d think a car with a neat SUV shape and familiar Golf mechanical bits would be sales catnip, but while the T-Roc has become a big player in VW’s sales charts, it has not been the Golf-killer we once thought.
Perhaps this new, second-generation T-Roc will deliver the coup de grâce? Let’s see...
You’d assume that the new T-Roc would be an evolutionary re-skin of the old one, because it carries over the old MQB chassis under the skin, but no, this really is a substantially new vehicle.
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The styling, led by head of VW design Andreas Mindt, takes some clear cues from the all-electric ID range, as well as the larger Tiguan and Tayron, but mixes them with some previous T-Roc styling motifs into a generally harmonious whole. There’s also a light-up VW badge at the rear for the first time on a T-Roc, and it certainly looks smart in the bright yellow of the initial presentation car.
There are significant changes, though. This T-Roc is a full 120mm longer than the old one, which has not only opened up considerably more rear seat space but has also allowed the boot to expand to a healthier 475 litres.
With the Tiguan also having increased in size, the T-Roc has had the room to grow in VW’s line-up, and although it’s hard to applaud cars simply becoming bigger, the extra interior space is welcome.
That interior is also far more up to date, using the big touchscreens – up to 12.9 inches across – of the updated Golf and the Tiguan, along with a largely button-free interior that, alas, sticks with the awful touch-sensitive temperature controls of other VW models, but at least gets a large volume control knob on the centre console, which also manages the driving modes if you press its centre.
VW has also brought back a touch of the 1999 Golf MkIV interior quality by padding the T-Roc’s dashboard and doors with lovely soft-touch fabrics, including a perforated imitation leather through which subtle background lighting can shine.
In terms of tech, there’s ‘travel assist’ adaptive cruise control and active lane keeping, and ‘park assist pro’ for taking care of those annoying parallel parking manoeuvres.
More significantly, there’s hybrid power. So far, Volkswagen’s embrace of hybrid has been focused entirely on mild-hybrids (which use a small electric motor to boost power slightly, and run the stop-start system for longer) or plug-in hybrids (which have a useful electric-only range but which require you to have a home charger to really make the most of them).
This new T-Roc, though, gets for the first time in any VW, a ‘full-hybrid’ or, as one might put it, a Toyota-style hybrid – a petrol engine assisted by an electric motor, which is capable of some short, but repeated, bursts of EV driving at low speeds, but without the need to plug it in anywhere.
Such hybrids currently make up almost a quarter of all Irish car sales, so VW could well be leaning on an open door here.
Frustratingly, though, when gen-two T-Roc sales begin early next year, the engine options will be limited to a pair of mild-hybrid 1.5-litre petrol units, with either 116hp or 150hp, both fitted as standard with an automatic seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Surely front-loading the new full-hybrids would be a faster route to success?
Still, VW seems to know what it’s doing – last year, even though the T-Roc was a run-out model, the factory near Lisbon built 292,000 T-Rocs for European customers.
Alan Bateson, director of Volkswagen Ireland’s operations, said of the new model: “Since its launch in 2017, the Volkswagen T-Roc has proven to be an extremely popular choice in Ireland, with over 15,000 units delivered to date.
“As Volkswagen celebrates 75 years in Ireland in 2025, the arrival of the new T-Roc marks a bold step forward. With its powerful design, innovative drive systems and premium quality, we are confident the new T-Roc will continue its success in Ireland and is just one of many exciting new models from Volkswagen that we look forward to welcoming on to Irish roads in 2026.”
Prices for the T-Roc are likely to rise, which is less good news. Expect a starting price of about €40,000.
Will this T-Roc truly be the last of the combustion-only VWs, though? Well, that remains to be seen. Models such as the Tiguan and Golf are being given extended lives so that they can sell alongside VW’s all-electric ID line-up right up to the proposed 2035 European sales cut-off for combustion engines.
The next generation of VW models will likely combine petrol, hybrid and all-electric power, such as the ID.Golf, which is due in 2027 or 2028 and which will supposedly be the initial bridge between the worlds of combustion and electric power. However, with that 2035 date being seen as increasingly malleable, don’t count your combustion-less chickens just yet. The T-Roc may not be the last.
