Probably one of the most important releases from
Seat in recent years has finally arrived. The
Ateca is the first SUV marketed by the Spanish brand and will prove crucial to the expansion of its market share. It is one more rival for the competitive SUV segment SUV, which includes for example the
Nissan Qashqai,
Mazda CX-5 or
Kia Sportage. The presentation of the model took place at a special event in Barcelona, but the official debut will take place in March at the Geneva Motor Show. The arrival on the market is scheduled for September.
The Seat Ateca comes to the market to take advantage of the great popularity of SUVs in Europe, which last year became for the first time the best-selling segment of the old continent. The first SUV from the Spanish brand has dimensions similar to the
Leon and is expected to bring a significant sales growth for the Volkswagen Group.
This will be the first car of a range that can reach three models in the upcoming years. After the Ateca, Seat is expected to launch in 2018 a smaller SUV based on the new generation of the
Ibiza to be launched in 2017. At the end of the decade there may also be the launch of a larger model than the Ateca.
In terms of dimensions the Seat Ateca is quite similar to the Qashqai. The model of the Spanish brand measures 4360mm, which is only 20mm shorter than the Japanese SUV. The Ateca shares the same wheelbase of Leon, at 2640mm, and width and height are also quite close to the Qashqai, 1840mm and 1600mm respectively.
As standard, the Seat Ateca will be a front wheel drive vehicle but will be available with an optional all-wheel drive system, only in diesel engines.
Equipped in the first Seat SUV will be a range of turbocharged petrol and diesel engines. Regarding petrol engines, the Ateca can be purchased with the three-cylinder engine 1.0 TSI 115hp or the 1.4 TSI 150hp that includes cylinder deactivation technology. On the diesel engines side there will be the 1.6 TDI 115hp and the 2.0 TDI with 150 or 190hp. All engines are available as standard with a manual six-speed gearbox, but in the case of more powerful versions drivers can opt for an dual-clutch seven-speed DSG automatic transmission.