Perhaps one of the biggest surprises in the past couple of years has been the success of the quirky Nissan Juke. Despite its toad-like front-end appearance and rather tight interior dimensions, the Juke has been a strong seller for Nissan. Even the more upscale Mini Countryman has caught on with buyers who've shown that some are willing to pay a premium for a compact crossover. Volkswagen, in its never-ending quest to have the right model for nearly everyone everywhere in the world, has evidently been paying attention.

Autocar reports that the German automotive giant confirmed at the Paris Motor Show that a Juke rival is currently in development. VW's R&D chief Ulrich Hackenberg said that his company needs to increase its SUV offerings and hinted at 2014 as a possible launch date for an SUV to be based on the next-generation Polo. Like the recently launched seventh-generation Golf, a Polo SUV would ride on the automaker's new MQB platform and will be available in both front- and all-wheel drive. Its styling will supposedly be inspired by the Cross Coupe concept displayed at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show.

Autocar adds that VW has there are more SUVs to come and we'll be seeing new concepts over the next three months. With the Tiguan already sharing its footprint with the Golf, we could be looking at a crossover version of the Up city car and another based on the US-market Passat sedan.