- Second-generation VW T-Roc spied testing in the Alps
- Disguise on nose hides a slimmer grille, but overall body shape is very similar to current car’s
- T-Roc has been a big hit for VW, was Europe’s third-best-selling vehicle in 2023
You might have read about how the Tesla Model Y stormed to the top of the European sales tables last year, or how it faced off a challenge from the Dacia Sandero to get there. But less column inches were devoted to the also impressive campaign run by the third-place finisher, VW’s T-Roc crossover.
The T-Roc has been a massive hit for the German automaker, and despite not being in the first flush of youth – it was launched in 2017 – sales grew by 13 percent between 2022 and 2023. So VW wasn’t about to rip up the plan and start again when it came to developing T-Roc Mk2.
Related: 2025 Volkswagen T-Roc Spied For The First Time
We first spied the second-generation T-Roc back in February playing in the snow, and now our photo team has captured it again high-up in the Alps where it was using the steep gradients and numerous switchbacks to test the prototype’s braking performance.
As expected, the test car was wearing a fake grille disguise, something VW loves to apply to its upcoming models to obscure the features it doesn’t want us to know about. And it probably fooled plenty of Alpine drivers because the overall body shape has hardly changed at all.
The character lines over the wheelarches have been carried over and only a keen eye would spot the missing swage line running across the top of both doors, or the fact that the C-pillar now has a tiny Hofmeister kink at its base.
But when the new T-Roc is revealed, probably later this year, we’re expecting it to feature a slimmer upper grille opening like the one on the Golf Mk8.5, and for the rear lights to be connected by an illuminated bar.
VW won’t make a T-Roc Cabriolet this time around, but it is likely to continue using a very similar engine lineup to the one available in today’s model. If that’s the case, buyers will choose between a 109 hp (110 PS) 1.0-liter triple, a 148 hp (150 PS) 1.5-liter inline four or a 2.0-liter four with 4Motion all-wheel drive and 187 hp (190 PS).
