2026 Volkswagen T-Roc: Toyota-fighting hybrid SUV teased

The second-generation Volkswagen T-Roc small SUV – with new hybrid tech – has been teased by the German automaker ahead of its official reveal, with its Australian arrival expected in the second half of 2026.

A single image of the new five-door, five-seat T-Roc – a rival to the Toyota Corolla Cross and C-HR, Hyundai Kona and Nissan Qashqai, among others – was published by Volkswagen, the vehicle covered in yellow and black graphics to leave some powder in the keg for its imminent full reveal. 

The automaker is expected to complete the picture ahead of September’s IAA Mobility Show in Munich, Germany – where a raft of new models is expected to debut, including the Volkswagen ID.2X small SUV.

The new generation will replace the current T-Roc, which was revealed in 2017 but didn’t arrive in Australia until 2020. 

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Volkswagen Australia is yet to confirm timing and details of the new T-Roc’s local launch.

Like the first generation, the new version will be related to the Golf but will use newer MQB Evo underpinnings used in the current Mk8.5 Golf.

Taking on the Toyota Corolla Cross and C-HR, the new T-Roc will be the first to use a new hybrid powertrain set to be offered in the Golf and the larger Tiguan SUV before spreading to other models throughout the broader Volkswagen Group. 

It will operate in the same way as Toyota’s hybrid set-up, where both a petrol engine and an electric motor will have the ability to drive the wheels. 

Reports suggest the new Volkswagen hybrid system will use a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor, with power and torque outputs set to range from 150kW/350Nm through to 200kW/400Nm.

The current T-Roc in Australian has outputs ranging from 110kW/250Nm from the 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine in the entry level Life and Style model grades. 

A larger 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine in the R-Line makes 140kW/320Nm, and the flagship R tops the range with a turbo 2.0-litre producing 221kW and 400Nm.  

Volkswagen has confirmed a new T-Roc R is launching in 2027.

The new T-Roc will be the start of Volkswagen’s revised strategy after betting large on electric vehicles (EVs), only to see the rise of hybrids in key markets, including the United States (US), as well as Australia. 

Hybrid sales in the US increased 36.7 per cent in 2024. A total of 1.9 million hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles were sold there last year and further hybrid growth is expected this year, according to the US Energy Information Administration. 

In Australia, hybrid sales grew 76 per cent last year, with sales up a further 14.9 per cent in the first half of 2025. 

Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schafer told British publication Autocar earlier this year the T-Roc’s hybrid powertrain was an important step to global sales.

“HEV has also become a big theme in the US specifically. It’s a technology that everybody said was not necessary anymore, but now with the BEV slowdown in the US, the balance is [moving towards] HEVs.”

“We needed to do it anyway, because South America has a need for an HEV drivetrain – and the T-Roc is built in South America for South America, and also in China.”

Australian T-Rocs are currently made in Lisbon, Portugal, where the automaker has confirmed it will manufacture the ID.1 city-sized electric car from 2027.

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