What's the news?
SEAT has officially unveiled its new SUV, called the Ateca. The new model is the first dedicated SUV from SEAT and fills an important gap in the company's model line-up.
Exterior
Like the rest of the current SEAT range the Ateca features sharp lines and taut body surfaces. Distinctive daytime running lights help to retain the family image set out by the Ibiza and Leon models. The Ateca is expected to share much with the new Volkswagen Tiguan and this is reflected in the car's overall proportions.
At the front the bonnet is short and rounded to help keep overall length down. All around the base of the car plastic cladding helps to retain a rugged and chunky appearance. The flanks feature a sharp crease running along the shoulderline, much like that in the SEAT Leon. Light catching design elements on the lower section of the doors break up the look from being too slab-sided. A chunky C-pillar adds to the solid look but is shaped to allow some extra light into the rear adding to the sense of space inside.
The rear tailgate is generously sized and there's a reasonably low load height. There is a familiar look to the rear lights, which follow on from the sort of styling seen in the Leon ST.
Interior
The cockpit is quite driver centric with controls close together and a high centre console. The driver position is also elevated giving a clear view of the vehicle's front end. Boot capacity is 510 litres - or 485 litres for all-wheel drive versions.
The Ateca is available with a suite of technology including ACC with front assist, traffic sign recognition and a new feature called Emergency Assist, which activates when a driver is inactive for a certain period of time. When this happens, the vehicle issues a visual then aural warning to alert the driver followed by a pulse of the brakes. If the driver remains unresponsive the car slows down to a standstill.
The Ateca is available with SEAT Full Link, which incorporates MirrorLink, Apple Car Play and Android Auto, and also includes a centre console Connectivity Box that enables wireless phone charging.
Mechanicals
The SEAT Ateca is offered with either front- or all-wheel drive and comes with manual or dual-clutch automatic DSG transmissions. Power comes from a choice of three diesel and two petrol engines. The diesel line-up consists of a 1.6 TDI with 115hp, a 2.0 TDI with 150hp and a 2.0 TDI with 190hp. Economy figures for the diesels range from 66- to 56mpg (4.3- to 5.0 litres/100 km) with CO2 emissions ranging from 112- to 131g/km. Two petrol engines are also offered, a 1.0 TSI with 115hp and a 1.4 TSI that comes with cylinder deactivation under partial load and produces 150hp. The economy and emissions figures for these engines are between 53- and 46mpg (5.3- and 6.2 litres/100km) and 123- to 141g/km.
Anything else?
Niall Phillips, Brand Director, SEAT Ireland said: "The SEAT Ateca marks the brand's entry into a new segment for us and it will, we believe, set the standard in its class. The introduction of the Ateca comes at a time when the mid-size SUV segment has seen phenomenal growth, up 51% year to date compared to the same period in 2015, increasing its share of the total market from 16.7% to 19%, which makes it one of the core segments. The announcement of the Ateca adds to what is already an extremely exciting time for the SEAT brand".
Advance sales of the SEAT Ateca SUV start in Spring of this year.