Volkswagen has been hinting a new entry-level
crossover for America, which will in all likelihood be a revised version of the
Tharu. The compact crossover will be sold in North and South America and is
tentatively known as the Tarek. Models built for North America will be made in
Mexico, while South American variants will be built in Argentina.
Volkswagen announced the news during an event at
their Pacheco plant which currently builds the Amarok and Suran. Autoblog
Argentina attended and reports the crossover will go into production locally in
2021.
The Tarek will ride on the MQB platform and
Volkswagen’s Leonardo Ezcurra told the publication the crossover will slot
between the T-Cross and Tiguan AllSpace. Ezcurra went on to say the model will
compete locally with crossovers such as the Jeep Compass, Ford Kuga / Escape, Hyundai
Tucson and Kia Sportage.
The executive went on to say the Argentinian model
will be launched with a turbocharged 1.4-liter engine that produces 148 hp. It will be paired to a six-speed automatic transmission which
sends power exclusively to the front wheels. When asked about the possibility
of an all-wheel drive variant, Ezcurra said it’s being considered. However, he
reiterated the crossover would be launched with front-wheel drive. While the Tarek will have a lot
in common with the Chinese-spec Tharu, it won’t be identical. In particular,
Ezcurra said customers can expect a more aggressive design and slight changes
to the interior.
In terms of size, the model will be 4468 mm long, 1841 mm wide and 1624 mm tall with
a wheelbase that spans 2681 mm. This would make the Tarek 234 mm shorter than the US-spec Tiguan and the wheelbase would be 109 mm)smaller. In remains unclear how much the US-spec model will have in common
with the Argentinian variant, but we should learn more closer to launch.
