I’m probably not a fan of convertibles. I don’t just like the wind messing up my hair, the solar burning my face, exterior smells stinking up my cabin, and annoying noises drowning out my music. I at the moment personal an R129 SL that I’ve by no means taken the hardtop off of, and I hardly ever even drive with the home windows down. But what I irrationally love are convertible SUVs. I’m not speaking about Wranglers and Broncos — I imply issues just like the Range Rover Evoque Convertible and Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet.
Sadly, Volkswagen has introduced that it hates enjoyable, by which I imply it will likely be discontinuing the T-Roc Cabriolet after the present technology of the compact crossover runs its course. That’s a rattling disgrace, because the droptop T-Roc is the one crossover convertible you’ll be able to at the moment purchase worldwide, not to mention in Europe the place the T-Roc is offered.
VW model growth boss Kai Grunitz confirmed the T-Roc Cabriolet’s demise to Automotive News Europe when discussing particulars of the next-gen T-Roc at at CES:
Volkswagen won’t exchange the T-Roc Cabriolet when the model launches the brand new model of the small SUV subsequent 12 months.
The present T-Roc will likely be changed subsequent 12 months by a brand new mannequin utilizing the MBQ Evo platform that additionally underpins the Golf’s upcoming face-lift, in addition to the brand new Passat and Tiguan.
The new T-Roc will likely be VW’s closing combustion-engine variant, VW model’s growth boss Kai Grunitz instructed journalists on the sidelines of the 2024 CES tech occasion in Las Vegas.
Grunitz added that “there is only a really small customer group for cabrios” as reasoning for the T-Roc convertible being discontinued. Despite that, final 12 months the T-Roc cabrio was the second best-selling convertible in Europe after the Mini droptop, promoting 11,693 models in 2023, and at one level it even made up greater than 1 / 4 of all T-Rocs offered. (In 2023 the T-Roc was the third best-selling automobile in Europe normally, with 191,015 automobiles registered.) It’s not a nasty worth, both. In Germany the T-Roc convertible is just a few thousand Euro costlier than the equal common T-Roc, and it’s priced between the highest trims of the Mini Cooper and Cooper S convertibles.
The T-Roc was first unveiled in 2017 because the smallest crossover in VW’s lineup (till the T-Cross got here a 12 months later). In 2020 the T-Roc Cabriolet got here out, primarily taking the place of the Beetle convertible that exited manufacturing a 12 months earlier. It featured a material roof that may very well be opened in simply 9 seconds at speeds of as much as 18 mph, and in contrast to the traditional T-Roc, the convertible solely had two doorways however nonetheless retained 4 seats. VW facelifted the T-Roc lineup a pair years later, however sadly the convertible by no means received the 296-horsepower motor from the sporty T-Roc R.
It’s an actual disgrace to see one more area of interest physique model chunk the mud, particularly when convertible gross sales normally are on the decline, representing lower than one p.c of automobile gross sales within the U.S. in 2022. But I nonetheless have hope in my coronary heart. The proliferation of bespoke electrical automobile platforms ought to make it simpler to create and federalize lower-volume fashions — simply take a look at how wagons are beginning to have a resurgence in recognition — so possibly we’ll see convertibles, particularly SUVs, make a comeback sooner or later.
Source: jalopnik.com