remember it was once a category almost as big as coupes and minivans : convertibles! Every manufacturer, universal or premium, once offered them in their range! Mégane CC at Renault308 CC in Peugeot, Cascada in Opel, Focus CC in Ford, Eos at Volkswagen. Brands doubled down on their imaginations to reinvent the category: Mazda X-5, Citroën C3 Pluriel and Renault Wind showed it to us. But, even more original, some wanted to mix genres, between an SUV and a convertible ! This is especially true Nissan with its Murano CrossCabrioletappeared in 2010, or Range Rover Evoque Convertible at Land Rover, launched in 2016. Volkswagen has also entered this niche race. It was in 2020 with his T-Roc convertible…

A niche T-Roc, and much more expensive

The T-Roc is one of the German group’s bestsellers, even competing for market share with the legendary Golf! He used to be alone in his niche, but since then he has shared it with the little Taigo and T-Cross. In 2022 Volkswagen reviewed the positioning of his T-Roc, to better distinguish it from them and also from the Golf. He advanced further, with more modern styling, better materials and advanced technology. If the “closed” T-Roc has three gasoline and two diesel, convertible T-Roc offers two gasoline units: 1.0L TSi with a capacity of 110 hp. and 1.5 TSi with a capacity of 150 hp.. Although the two models are very similar in style and design, the “convertible” is much more expensive: Minimum €40,660 in trim stylecompared to €27,220 for the T-Roc.

Last of the Mohicans

Who knows how much longer this unusual model will last in the Volkswagen catalog? This was told to our colleagues from Automotive News during CES in Las Vegas by Volkswagen brand development director Kai Grunitz the next-generation T-Roc (scheduled for 2025) will ditch the convertible. Unfortunately, almost 12,000 units were sold in Europe last year the second best-selling convertible on the Old Continentin front of the Mini Cabrio.

Gruntitz explains this decision by the fact that “convertible buyers are a niche group in Europe.” His departure will further weaken the convertible market. The Evoque convertible is gone, Mercedes C-Class and E-Class cabriolet merged into a single model called CLE, and in addition to Mini, Fiat, Mazda and BMW, several other manufacturers have kept this type of body in their range. However, the advent of fire electricity can bring back these patterns of passion/pleasure, as evidenced the new MG Cyberster, whose arrival is imminent…

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