Volkswagen is preparing to launch its new T-Roc crossover (although it has yet to be officially revealed), and a new report out of the United Kingdom suggests that an R-badged derivative is by no means out of the question.
The upcoming crossover will ride on the Volkswagen Group’s ubiquitous MQB platform (a modular setup that underpins everything from the Audi Q2 to the VW Tiguan), and essentially be positioned as an SUV version of the Golf.
Frank Welsch, the Volkswagen brand’s head of technical development, told Autocar that dropping a hot engine into the T-Roc could certainly work, although he insisted that tacking the GTI badge onto the back wouldn’t happen.
“Yes, of course I could imagine more powerful engines and it has been prepared for the eventuality,” Welsch told the British publication, before revealing the possibility of using the R moniker instead.
“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,” he explained.
“Our first job is to launch the standard car and see the reaction to it. 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.”
The 2,0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine in the facelifted Golf R makes 228 kW, although the South African-spec model is expected to be detuned to 223 kW.
