The new Volkswagen T-Cross, then. It’s a small SUV, and it’s kind of a big deal. It has just been launched with three separate events in Shanghai, São Paulo and Amsterdam; supermodel Cara Delevingne was even on hand to pose for photos at the latter.

It looks good, too, if you like that sort of thing. For customers looking for a small, affordable and practical SUV, I reckon it will be a compelling prospect. And I’m not just saying that because Cara Delevingne said so.

And yet you might think you’ve seen it before: that’s certainly the impression from some of the early reactions on social media and comments on our news story. Hasn’t Volkswagen already launched a new small SUV? In fact, hasn’t just about every car firm in the world launched about 38,700 different small SUVs?

Well, yes, there are a lot of them. But I can assure you the T-Cross is a brand-new model with a brand-new nameplate. I know: I was at the Amsterdam launch (although I reassure you I posed for fewer photos than Cara Delevingne).

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The confusion, in the case of the T-Cross, might be to do with the Volkswagen T-Roc, another brand-new model with a brand-new nameplate launched that was launched within the last year.

They’re both small Volkswagen SUVs, part of the firm’s 'T family'. And they’re actually quite different when you look at the details. So here’s an easy way to describe them: think of the T-Cross as an SUV version of the Volkswagen Polo and the T-Roc as the SUV equivalent of the Golf. The T-Polo and T-Golf, if you will. Or not.

Once you get close, there are further differences. Volkswagen has worked hard to ensure the two machines are aimed at different audiences: the T-Cross is focused on affordability and practicality, while the T-Roc is as more style-conscious and slightly more upmarket. Much like, say, the Polo and the Volkswagen Golf.

With the SUV market growing rapidly (Volkswagen estimates the high-riding machines will account for 50% of its sales by 2025), there’s plenty of room for both. Much like, say, the hatchback market can accommodate the Polo and Golf.

See? When you think of the Polo and Golf in relation to the T-Cross and T-Roc, they’re easy to compare. And that’s because pretty much everyone knows the difference between a Polo and a Golf – or, for another example, the Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus. It takes time for a car name to resonate with the public: nameplates like the Polo and Golf stretch back generations and have built-in brand equity and value.

The challenge for car firms, then, is trying to launch an ever increasing number of new products into new market segments while also gearing up to launch a new wave of electric machines that will usher in a whole new set of names – at the same time that just about every other car firm is doing the same.

Again, I’m not singling out Volkswagen here, just using it as an example. BMW's X range seems to grow by the hour (I’m not sure if the X2.5 has arrived yet, but there's always time), Audi is rapidly rolling out Q models and the PSA Group’s various brands are getting in on the act too.

The sheer volume of all those new models from all those brands is hard to keep up with, and it’s going to be an ongoing challenge for companies to reduce confusion and help each new machine find its place.

Still, the good news for Volkswagen is that the T-Cross effectively completes its UK SUV line-up. Which, for handy reference, goes: T-Cross, T-Roc, Volkswagen Tiguan, Tiguan Allspace, Volkswagen Touareg.

Five models, then. Not all that hard to learn, is it? Give it a few months, and the arrival of a doubtless vast number of T-Crosses on the roads (to match the already large volume of T-Rocs sold), and I expect all will become clear.

The confusion shouldn’t last long, then – well, at least until the impending arrival of the electric ID family…

Read more

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