This is the SEAT Leon Cross Sport, SEAT's first ever production SUV and its key weapon in the crossover-hungry world of the European car market and a vital foil for the likes of the Nissan Qashqai. Except it's not, kinda, sorta. It's officially a concept and the hawk-eyed amongst you will have noticed that it has but three doors, whereas you'd expect the final production version to have five.
Which it will have, so this show car, based (obviously enough) on the Leon SC coupe is still not quite the final, final, actual, you-can-buy-it production version. Why? Beats us - they've had enough time to work on it.
It's certainly production-ready underneath, as it rides on Volkswagen Group's MQB chassis and it has a production engine. Actually, this is where the show-pony smoke and mirrors stuff starts, as the engine is the 290hp 2.0-litre turbo petrol unit taken from the also-appearing-at-the-show SEAT Leon Cupra 290. In the Cross Sport, it's been tweaked up to a full 300hp and SEAT claims that it'll do 0-100km/h in just 4.9 seconds, powering through to the tarmac via a Haldex four-wheel drive system.
Other nice touches are the 19-inch Y-spoke alloys, two-tone colour scheme and full LED headlights (which really haven't been seen in this class yet). Incidentally the orange colour scheme (inside and out) is inspired by the hot Barcelona sun in SEAT's home town (even though the car will actually be built in the Czech Republic by Skoda...) and the Cross Sport rides a full 41mm higher than a standard Leon. SEAT also says that the car gets adaptive steering, a stability control system designed to maximise fun and Adaptive cruise control with Front Assist, traffic sign recognition and lane keeping assistance, which "are likewise extremely useful in the urban jungle." There's also a big, bright touch-screen with lots of connectivity functions, including Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and MirrorLink.
"The SEAT Leon family is not only incredibly successful, but also exceptionally multi-faceted. With the Leon Cross Sport, we are testing out a new idea - the performance of the Leon Cupra with the many possibilities offered by an all-road vehicle, says Jürgen Stackmann, Chairman of the Executive Committee, SEAT, S.A. "The Leon Cross Sport is therefore a perfect match for the brand and for a young, multi-faceted lifestyle. And, as a compact two-door, this crossover fits well into the urban jungle."
So, does that mean we'll actually get a full 300hp four-wheel drive tall-riding SEAT Leon coupe? Probably not - but expect to see a proper, five-door production version soon, probably with a fairly sporty FR variant. A serious, Cupra-engined version isn't very likely, at least until Nissan starts selling a Qashqai NISMO.