Volkswagen Rules Out GTI Crossover Model

Volkswagen is interested in giving its new tiny SUV a performance variant, but the sacrosanct “GTI” badge won’t find its way to the T-Roc’s back end.

“Yes, of course, I could imagine more powerful engines and it has been prepared for the eventuality,” Frank Welsch, VW’s head of product development told . “I wouldn’t call it a GTI — an SUV isn’t a fitting car for that badge, perhaps — but I could imagine it as an R.”

The T-Roc is VW’s latest small SUV. Roughly the same size as a Golf, the T-Roc will compete with the likes of the Audi Q2 and the SEAT Ateca in Europe.

The automaker is intent on giving the car a peppy character to attract young people. With the Golf R’s 310 hp 2.0-liter engine, it would be an attractive little SUV, indeed. Volkswagen might have to borrow Audi’s engineers, though, to ensure that the high-riding T-Roc can round corners stably with all that power.

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Although it would be simple enough to fit the engine under the T-Roc’s hood – it shares its MQB platform with the Golf R, after all – actually doing so isn’t so simple.

“Our first job is to launch the standard car and see the reaction to it,” Welsch told . “If demand is there for a more powerful car, we can likely satisfy it. There is a great deal of potential in the car that we can unlock if customers want it.”