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At first glance the CrossPolo, which Volkswagen has just announced, could mislead you into thinking it has some useful off-road ability.

Despite the tough looking grey plastic body kit, it lacks some of the essentials needed for all-terrain driving.  Well, all of them actually - there’s no four wheel drive, no decent ground clearance (although it is raised by all of 15 mm), no lockable differentials and the tyres are definitely suitable only for tarmac.



In reality then it’s not going to be much better than a ‘normal’ Polo when it comes to going cross country.  So does that mean it’s a daft concept?





Maybe not.  In some respects it’s an ideal town car, built to better shrug off the inevitable minor dings and scratches that come with exciting urban adventures, such as the school run or the expedition into the supermarket car park.



If that’s to be its role then, why go and fit lovely 17 inch alloys with fairly low profile 215/40 tyres?  A regime of kerb-scraping parallel parking and crashing through pot holes is going to mean they won’t remain unscathed for long.





Only available as a five-door, the CrossPolo comes in a range of six colours, two of which - orange and beige - are exclusive to this model.  They’re possibly not as bad as they sound.  Beneath the exterior changes, the mechanicals are standard Polo, with a choice of three petrol and three diesel engines.



The CrossPolo is already available for pre-order in Germany, with deliveries beginning in May.  Thereafter the rest of Europe should get it, although there’s some doubt as to whether it’ll make it to the UK.