ROC-STEADY(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 47

Volkswagen's second-generation T-Roc compact SUV is a clear evolution of the style-led original - and there's more to it than first meets the eye. Its larger size and better quality feel distance it from its predecessor. And there's now the significant option of a full-Hybrid engine too.

Background word count: 175

Once the defining face of small Volkswagen SUVs, where does the T-Roc fit into the Wolfsburg brand's plans today? The original version - basically an SUV Golf - was launched back in 2017 as Volkswagen's entry-level crossover, a position since supplanted by smaller Polo-based T-Cross and Taigo models. And it sold steadily for eight years, with a subtle mid-term 2022 facelift along the way, by which time both Convertible and hot hatch R models had been added to the range. By Autumn 2025 with over 2 million sales on the board, the second-generation design we look at here was long overdue. It's once more Golf-based, which means there's no EV version. But this MK2 T-Roc will have something arguably more significant for Volkswagen right now - the option of the brand's very first full-Hybrid engine. Perhaps just as significant is the fact that this second-generation T-Roc will be the very final combustion car that Volkswagen launches in its long history - or at least that was the plan at launch. Let's take a closer look.