SEAT boss Jürgen Stackmann told just-auto that he loves the UK market. Here, the brand is on course for a record year, thanks to new models such as the Toledo. Glenn Brooks gets the measure of this built-by-Škoda B/C segment hatchback.
We talk a lot about vehicle segments in this business of reporting on the global car industry. But segments, and what cars people consider before making a purchase decision, keep changing. Take this example: my neighbour owned a BMW X6 but recently changed it for a 6 Series Coupe – who would think that someone would cross-shop those two cars? Lives change, priorities shift, and then one day you find yourself considering maybe a Renault Scenic, a SEAT Toledo and a Nissan Juke. But perhaps perversely, not considering the twin of the Toledo, a car it is even built alongside, the Škoda Rapid. Thus speaks the power of brands.
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So who buys SEATs in this country? Well, young and young at heart males are mad for the faster Ibizas, but the brand wants to become more appealing to families, so that’s why much was made of the new ST or estate version of the Leon being promoted as a separate model. The León five-door is a classic C segment family car, while just below it in an emerging size class is the Toledo.
Looking a bit like a saloon but with a simply enormous boot that a high-opening hatchback reveals, the Toledo used to be a bit of a forgotten model in Britain. It offers great value for money even if the standard specification, like so very many cars on the market, is odd to some eyes. Examples? The SE model grade press fleet car had cornering fog lights, leather covering for the steering wheel and gear knob, 16-inch alloys rims, a proper spare wheel – don’t laugh, it’s rare to see one and in an eighty grand Range Rover that I drove recently it was a GBP200 option – bluetooth with voice control and loads of other gear including something else that is disappearing, a grab handle for the driver. But. Every one of the four grab handles snaps back when you let it go, even though you get the lovely soft-closing when you release the SEAT symbol that doubles as the tailgate latch. Does injecting some silicon in there really cost the Volkswagen Group that much?
You don’t get springy-bangy handles in a Polo. Still, you wouldn’t get all the equipment that the Toledo came with in a Polo, and you certainly wouldn’t get one for the GBP17,840 of the review model. Options? The Toledo had non metallic special paint (GBP175), 17” wheels (GBP250), a detachable tow bar (GBP620) and bundled Hill Hold Control and tyre pressure monitoring for a combined bargain basement GBP50. All in GBP18,935.
I tend not to think ‘sensible’ when I think SEAT but the Toledo is the essence of sensibility. The space inside the thing is amazing, for something that is smaller than a León and only a bit bigger than an Ibiza. The interior is attractive, the SatNav one of the most intuitive systems I have used this year but again, you keep finding oddities. I rented a Fiat Ducato van while I had the Toledo. Poor thing was bashed around, had quite a few miles on the clock and its model grade was undoubtedly Poverty Pack. But it had one-shot electric windows and the SEAT did not. Does that matter? You get used to things but it does show you how skilled manufacturers habve become, carefully decontenting cars to get the spec to just the right price and equipment mix for the majority of potential buyers.
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By GlobalDataAs mentioned earlier on, the Toledo and Skoda’s Rapid hatchback for Europe are more or less the same car. Each had its global debut at the Paris motor show in September 2012. Both come down the same line at Škoda’s main plant adjacent to its headquarters in Mladá Boleslav. The platform is the Volkswagen Group’s A05 architecture from the SEAT Ibiza (SE250), modified with a different rear end.
Of the two, the Rapid is going to be bigger deal, globally. There are in fact several Rapids: one is built in India as a B segment rival for the Polo sedan, then there is Europe’s larger five-door hatchback and finally a sedan version of that car which is exclusive to China. But there is only one Toledo. I can’t imagine that production will be expanded to other Volkswagen Group plants – SEAT’s plans for China remain small to modest and it makes sense to keep building the car only at Mladá Boleslav.
What we might well sell in 2014 is a sports version of the Toledo. It’s an open secret that a vRS Rapid is on the way, so why not a Toledo Cupra? Segments change, buyers preferences shift and brand images also evolve. SEAT’s image is on the rise, especially in the UK, where sales for the first nine months totalled 35,468 units, a 16% YoY rise compared to 11% for the overall market.
Next year should be a good one too, as yet more fresh product is on the way – I would expect a mmi-life facelift for the Alhambra, and maybe even a new Ibiza in about 12 months’ time. After that? A facelift for the Mii in 2015 and the vehicle that the brand really needs to make a major leap in overall sales volume – a compact crossover or SUV. But even without additional products, it’s clear that the Volkswagen Group’s strategy of cautious investment in SEAT, and the steady flow of new or freshened models is paying dividends already.
