Say hello to the affordable new VW SUV that will be made in South Africa

VW has announced the name of the new SUV that will be built in South Africa.

The German carmaker is currently working on a plan to introduce a new, more affordable crossover that will help the brand to regain a foothold in the entry-level market.

The new model, which is expected to slot below the T-Cross, has already gone on sale in its home market of Brazil, where it is known as the Tera.

However, Volkswagen Group Africa previously confirmed that the car will not use this name when it makes the trip across the Atlantic, as the company wants to give it a unique moniker for our country.

This meant that, for the past few months, the incoming model has simply been referred to as the Tera or the “A0 SUV,” in reference to the segment it will compete in.

More recently, VW declared that it was opening an online poll where the public could vote on the name of the new car, of which four predetermined options were available.

The four names were Tengo, Tavi, Tiva, and Tion, keeping up the brand’s tradition of giving its SUVs names that start with T.

This is what each name stands for:

• Tengo stands for rich cultural significance in African languages and describes qualities like strength, resilience, and purpose
• Tavi is a gender-neutral word meaning good or beloved. In Latin, it also means eight
• Tiva means nature in Hebrew and is also associated with vitality, life, and energy
• Tion signifies aesthetic appeal and evokes a sense of movement and change

The poll ran for 10 days, and VW has officially announced that the new model will be called the Tengo.

What to expect from the new VW Tengo

The VW Tengo will be built at the company’s Kariega factory in the Eastern Cape, which already produces the Polo and Polo Vivo hatchbacks.

Unfortunately, the SUV is only scheduled to go into production in 2027, which means South Africans will have to wait a while before they can get their hands on it.

In the meantime, we can look to Brazil to get a sense of what the Tengo (Tera) will offer.

In its home market, the crossover is sold with the automaker’s familiar 1.0-litre petrol engine, both with and without a turbocharger.

The naturally-aspirated version generates 56kW and 92Nm, while the turbo (TSI) models have a different output depending on the gearbox.

The six-speed manual Tera produces 81kW and 165Nm, while the six-speed automatic has a slightly higher 85kW and 170Nm.

As far as equipment is concerned, the crossover still has a lot to offer despite its budget nature.

The entry-spec model comes with 15-inch wheels, LED headlights, electric side mirrors, a height-adjustable driver’s seat, air conditioning, an 8-inch digital driver display, and a 10-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

It also has safety fittings like traction control, cruise control, rear parking sensors, driver fatigue monitoring, hill assist, automatic emergency braking, and six airbags.

The higher-end models will then throw in items such as 17-inch diamond-cut alloy rims, a leather steering wheel with paddle shifters, adaptive cruise control, automatic climate control, ambient lighting, a wireless phone charger, a rearview camera, blind-spot detection, and lane-change assist.

In Brazil, the Tera has a starting price of 99,900 reals, which works out to roughly R325,000 at the current exchange rate.

As a point of reference, the T-Cross currently retails for R399,900, so the new Tengo should be much more affordable.

Of course, the real price is likely to be much higher thanks to inflation, given that the Tengo is still two years away from making its local debut.