Volkswagen uncovers the Cross Coupe GTE, and a more stylish VW face

With Volkswagen on a drive to become the world's largest automaker and restore its ailing U.S. business, the German automaker took aggressive swipe at the burgeoning SUV market tonight with a new concept, the Cross Coupe GTE.

The Cross Coup is the third concept car VW has presented derived from a seven-seat mid-size SUV it plans to build in its Chattanooga, Tenn. plant in late 2016. The Cross Coupe GTE is plug-in hybrid concept that shares its underlying MQB architecture with the Volkswagen Golf.

Typically VW reserves the GTE name for it’s sportier plug-in vehicles, and the Cross Coupe is no different; from stop to 60 mph takes just 6 seconds and top speed is 130 mph With a variety of operating modes including all electric, hybrid, GTE, off-road, and a charge mode, VW says the Cross Coupe will get 70 MPGe.

The new concept is powered by a 3.6 V-6 engine that puts out 276 hp and is paired with two electric motors, with 54 hp and 114 hp respectively, for a total of 335 maximum hp. VW says the car will go up to 20 miles in EV mode. A 6-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission offers four driving modes including On-road, Off-road, Sport, and Snow.