Here’s why the Volkswagen Tharu can be a strong competitor in the Philippine Market

There is no shortage of options for compact crossovers in the market, and it’s been a while since Volkswagen has had a compact crossover. Remember the Tiguan? Perhaps that was one of the more underrated models in the market when it was still out. 

Fast forward a few years and VW Philippines gave us the T-Cross. A subcompact unit that was set to take on the highly competitive affordable crossover segment in the Philippines, the T-Cross was relatively well-received with its colorful exterior, interior, and decently padded spec sheet. It was the price that got it into the garages of many young professionals and growing families, however, it was a rather small car so with the introduction of the Tharu, VW was looking to field a model with the personality and modern amenities of the T-Cross, but in a bigger and more powerful platform. So here’s why we think that the Tharu has what it takes to compete in its segment, and why we believe it’s going to be VW Philippines’ best crossover yet. 

Most crossovers are well-designed nowadays. You’d be hard-pressed to find a car that isn’t full of cuts, curves, and over-the-top bumpers and spoilers that’ll get anybody’s attention in or out of the showroom floor. However, you could say that cars are getting over-designed to a certain extent. Are attention-grabbing designs going to stay relevant in a few years or will they get old quickly? 

To us, personality is more timeless and important when it comes to a car’s design. Going for the latest shapes and cuts isn’t always the answer when it comes to staying relevant for long. Actually, a number of cars hit the nail on the head when it comes to design and matching the personality of the car. The Tharu is one of them. Just give it a thought, would a crossover really need all those spoilers and fins on its body? VWs seem to age gracefully. Think about it, if you saw a Jetta, or a Golf, or perhaps the Tiguan on the road today, it probably wouldn’t look that old and out of place on our roads. As long as those cars are maintained well you’re probably looking at a car that’ll look new for longer.

However, with an admittedly boring design compared to the competition, what VW lacks in cuts and curves, it makes up for with personality, and that’s way more timeless than a trendy spoiler, grille, or bumper. 

What’s so special about the Tharu? Well, we mentioned how the new crossover takes after its smaller brother, the T-Cross. The Tharu takes that same fun persona and gives it a bigger and more mature design but with a splash of color so things don’t get so boring. The interior of the Tharu is not like most cars. While VW offers up red white and black, and bronze, white, and black as interior color options, the blue interior is really getting to us, and the headlining color that we think you should definitely check out is the dark blue with the teal accents. While it may not sound good on paper, you have to check it out in photos and in person. Other cars stick to the standard interior colors, but this one is different. This one actually has a uniqueness to it that definitely sets itself apart from the rest of the standard black and grey that we’re all used to at this point. 

Based on the dimensions, the Tharu is 4,453mm long, 1,841mm wide, and 1,635mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,680mm. We liked the dimensions of the T-Cross while navigating city streets, however, the Tharu still retains the compactness of its smaller sibling, but with added length. To give context, the T-Cross is 4,218mm long, 1,760mm wide, and 1,599mm tall on a wheelbase of 2,651mm long. A lot longer, a bit wider, and just about the same height, the Tharu still retains a good amount of compactness and we reckon that it will be just about as easy to drive as the T-Cross, but with more interior space for passengers and cargo. 

We’re curious as to how the Tharu will stack up. However, given what we currently know about the Tharu, we can expect a turbocharged 1.5-liter gasoline engine with up to 158 hp and 250 Nm of torque. Torque is generous, but horsepower may be a bit lacking in comparison to the other cars in its segment. 

As for the features, what we know so far is that the Tharu will come with a large infotainment display, coming in at about 10 or so inches, and also an Advanced Information Display, the same one in the T-Cross. LED headlights are available, and we expect the car to come with other “standard” stuff like a reverse camera, but we’re hoping that a 360-degree monitor will be part of the spec sheet, perhaps for the top-of-the-line variant. 

Down on power but not out-grunted, the Tharu’s got some good things going for it. On top of that, the Tharu has by far the most interesting interior design of the lot in terms of color. While some of us will stick to our black and grey interiors, for the few of us love color. 

Price-wise, however, it remains to be seen where VW will position the Tharu in the market. Considering the other cars in the compact segment, which range between about P1,400,000 all the way to about P2,000,000 or more, it’s likely that Volkswagen Philippines has a price in mind in between this range. It remains to be seen whether the Tharu will be worth its launch price tag. We’re also eager to test this car and see if it will be worth the money. 

The thing is, where will the Tharu compete? Will it join the likes of Mazda and Peugeot as a more upscale but pricier option in the market? Or will it compete in the fierce arena where Ford, Honda, and even other Chinese brands play? That remains to be seen. However, we definitely hope that after seeing this car in person and test-driving it, it'll be well-worth the price, whatever it may be on launch day.