Seat SUV range grows with new Arona

As flagged in our recent review of the excellent Seat Ateca, the company’s SUV line-up is set to get much bigger.

The Ateca will be joined in the second half of this year by the Arona, a compact crossover based on the same platform as the Ibiza.

But, Seat says it will reinforce the product offensive that began with the Ateca with the launch of a third SUV, which will become the flagship model of SEAT. This new SUV, which has not yet been named, will be positioned one segment above the successful Ateca, feature 5 and 7-seater versions, and will reach dealerships in 2018.

Prior to that, in the second half of this year, SEAT will begin marketing the Arona. The new SUV announced this week will be built at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, enabling improved synergies within the Group by maximising the MQB A2 platform which is already installed there.

SEAT President Luca de Meo has expressed his satisfaction with the new SUV saying the car will bring new customers to the company, boost brand image and will have a very big effect on Seat’s ability to generate margins.

“It will be designed in Barcelona and made in Germany. Producing the new SUV in Wolfsburg, in the heart of the Group, will reinforce the ties between SEAT and Volkswagen,” he said.

In the same vein. Neil Dalton, head of marketing and product at Seat Ireland commented: “We are extremely excited about the arrival of the all new larger SUV model which will help us further infiltrate the SUV segment following the phenomenal success of the all-new Ateca. It’s a fantastic period for Seat currently, as we embark on the biggest product offensive in the history of the brand introducing the all new Ibiza and Arona Crossover this year and looking forward to the arrival of our larger SUV in 2018.”