Three years ago at the Geneva motor show Volkswagen showed us a glimpse of its intent - more crossovers. The T-Roc concept that premiered back then was a two-door, targa-topped muscular little thing on 19in wheels. However in a couple of weeks in Frankfurt, VW will at last be ready to show off the T-Roc in its final production form after years of teasing us with its entry-level crossover.

Needless to say the 2018 T-Roc isn’t a targa, and it isn’t a two-door and those aren’t 19s.

What it is, is a cheaper Audi Q2, sitting on the same platform (Wolfsburg’s MQB modular architecture) that additionally underpins the Golf, the Tiguan, the Passat, the Audi Q3, the Polo, the TT, the Scirocco, the Jetta, and at this point it’d be easier to list what the MQB isn’t.

Volkswagen Middle East says there are no confirmed plans to bring the T-Roc to our region yet, but elsewhere the car will start from about the equivalent of Dh88,000, with front wheel drive and turbocharged power.

The top spec cars will come with all-wheel drive and up to around 190 horsepower which should make the hottest T-Rocs a bit of fun to drive.

Volkswagen makes a big deal about the practicality features of its latest crossover, claiming a total cargo volume of 1,290 liters. Otherwise the T-Roc will take five occupants and 445 liters of cargo with the rear 60/40 split seats in their upright position. For comparison, the rivaling Nissan Qashqai offers a boot capacity of 430, but something like the Renault Captur trumps them both with nearly 450 litres.

Inside the T-Roc you’ll find a cabin pretty much lifted from the VW Golf, except in here the theme is lifted somewhat with colour-matching.

Fully recognising the importance of kit in this competitive segment, the Wolfsburgers have decided to cram the T-Roc full of equipment, such as emergency braking, pedestrian monitoring and lane assist systems even in the base versions. Head further up the range and you get adaptive cruise control, a rear view camera, blind spot monitoring and even a self parking function.