Despite celebrating its seventh birthday this month, VW’s little T-Roc SUV continues to lure customers to dealerships. In fact, it ranked as the third-best-selling car in Europe in 2023. However, a second-generation T-Roc is on the horizon, and we’ve spotted both the old and new versions testing together. The white car in these spy photos is the upcoming 2026 model-year T-Roc and the dark-colored SUV is the current T-Roc, whose badges, bumpers and four exhaust tailpipes reveal is a high-performance 297 hp R derivative. And if you weren’t paying too much attention you might presume the two T-Rocs were of the same vintage. VW’s test team routinely disguises its new vehicles as current versions by mocking up the shape of the outgoing model’s grille and bumper air intakes in tape. And these images of the two cars side-by-side shows just how good that disguise looks.

But it’s what’s under that fake grille that we’re more interested in, and we’re confident that it’s a slim grille similar to the one fitted to recent VWs like the Mk8.5 Golf, facelifted Taos, Passat and Euro-market Tiguan. We can also see that the hood no longer extends down to the grille, the two components being separated by a body-color plastic filler panel.

 

The distinctive line on the old car’s rear fender that gives the T-Roc a muscular look and appears to have been inspired by the rear haunches of Bentley’s Continental, is carried across. But the new car is a little curvier, and no longer features a crisp swage line running across the tops of both doors. And the slimmer rear lights – which we suspect are joined by a transverse light bar – make the new T-Roc appear wider and lower.

Since the T-Roc is essentially a Golf SUV, it would be logical to assume the powertrain lineup will share many engines with the new Mk8.5 Golf. While the Golf is sold only in GTI and R versions in the US, Europeans can buy it with 113 hp and 148 hp 1.5 TSI petrols, 113 hp or 148 hp 2.0 diesels, or as 1.5-liter hybrid in mild and plug-in flavors.

We also expect a 2.0-liter turbo petrol with 4Motion all-wheel drive to join the party, and hopefully another T-Roc R, with the latest Golf R’s 333 hp motor. But one T-Roc that definitely won’t be getting a second chance is the convertible, and no T-Rocs are likely to make the trip to the US, where the bigger Taos is VW’s entry-level SUV.