The VW T-Cross is a beach-ready cute ute (pictures)

There's more to the T-Cross than just the convertible top.

In fact, the body (or what's underneath it) is the most important part.

The T-Cross presages an all-new subcompact utility vehicle that will become VW's smallest ute to date.

In the future, VW's Tiguan and Touareg will be joined by three other SUV models.

A 108-horsepower, 1.0-liter gasoline engine powers the T-Cross.

Mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, it'll hit 62 mph in a whopping 10.3 seconds.

Of course, performance doesn't matter when your car can achieve 47mpg on the Euro cycle.

Even with its diminutive 10.6-gallon tank, it's still capable of nearly 500 miles between fill-ups.

Style-wise, it's very Volkswagen.

The headlights blend right into the grille, and like the Phideon before it, the T-Cross' character line under the beltline is incredibly strong.

The tail lights have a bit more Audi flair to them.

The T-Cross' interior follows along with the style set forth by BUDD-e at CES.

The only physical buttons in the cabin are the control stalks, power window switches and the transmission controls (which are only digitally, not mechanically connected to the transmission).

The T-Cross packs some wicked cool tech, including a predictive driving profile that ties into the nav system to set up the car for the road ahead.

Additionally, it'll pull up topographic maps and depict chassis components when it recognizes the driver going off-road.

Can you see the air vents? They're there -- they're just hidden inside the various dashboard shapes.