It's only Monday and yet this is probably the weirdest story you're going to read all week. People laughed at Volkswagen when it launched the T-Roc Cabriolet in late 2019 but who's laughing now? Sales figures published by market researcher Dataforce (via Automotive News Europe) show the oddball vehicle was the best-selling vehicle in the mainstream coupe/convertible segment through July.
With 8,732 units delivered in the seven months of 2023 or 9.6 percent more than in the same period of last year, the T-Roc with a folding fabric roof was by far the most successful in its segment. It was nearly twice as popular as the car positioned in second place, the Mazda MX-5, which enjoyed a sales jump of 53.9 percent to 4,570 vehicles. Rounding off the podium was the mid-engined (and much more expensive) Alpine A110 with 2,155 cars (+16.8 percent).
Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet Edition Grey
VW builds the conventional crossover in Portugal at the Palmela factory but its two-door sibling is rolling off the assembly line in Germany at the Osnabrück plant. The T-Roc Cabrio is the only model of its kind since Land Rover pulled the plug on the equally strange Range Rover Evoque Convertible years ago. A second-generation T-Roc is planned, but we wouldn't necessarily count on another cabrio version given how the VW Group is pouring most of its money into EVs.
In the premium segment, Dataforce splits the coupe and cabriolet body styles into two separate categories. The Porsche 911 Coupe took first place in the former class with 8,216 cars while the MINI One/Cooper Convertible was #1 in the latter segment with 13,750 units. That puts the VW T-Roc Cabriolet in second place overall, behind the MINI. That's not to say this is a hugely successful model since 8,732 sold cars isn't exactly a high number, especially in comparison to the regular T-Roc, which generated a massive volume of 111,855 units in the same interval.
In the mainstream coupe/convertible segment, numbers compiled by Dataforce show one person bought a Nissan 370Z and another one purchased a Fiat 124, which is quite odd since the Italian Miata was discontinued years ago. In addition, 11 people got a Chevrolet Camaro. As for the Toyobaru twins, which have limited availability in Europe, the GR86 racked up 934 sales while the BRZ was delivered 327 times. Between them was the Supra with 584 units. As for the Ford Mustang, it finished fourth with 1,921 cars.
