It might have just lost its CEO with no successor yet in place but unlike Groupe Renault, where Luca de Meo is now the boss, there is no sense of crisis at SEAT. Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo is profitable, the decision to turn Cupra into a premium brand looks inspired, both marques are well stocked with future model lines and new markets are being explored too.
SEAT
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By GlobalDataShould there be a successor for the Mii electric, it could be part of a project to create a range of small electric cars, being led by SEAT engineers. It is known that sub-20,000 euro EVs for several Volkswagen Group brands are being developed, each one based on a new version of MEB, the group’s electric vehicles platform. SEAT has been tasked with engineering the architecture, the company announced in March 2019. There should be vehicles for VW, Skoda and Jetta too. Launch timing is reckoned to be late in the third quarter of 2022.
The fifth generation Ibiza was the introductory model for the Volkswagen Group’s Modular Quer Baukasten (MQB) A0 platform. Production is at SEAT’s Martorell plant, which also sends kits to a facility in Algeria for SKD assembly. A mid-life facelift is due in late 2020/early 2021, along with mild hybrid powertrains. The replacement range (scheduled for 2024) should include a fully electric variant.
SEAT’s SUV in the B segment is the Arona. As with the related VW T-Cross and Skoda Kamiq, it is front-wheel drive only. The first customer deliveries took place in late 2017, which means a facelift is probably scheduled for mid-2021. The successor might not appear in dealerships until the first quarter of 2025 although the vehicle itself will likely be revealed to the public during the second half of 2024. Expect a fully electric version of the second generation model.
The fourth generation Leon range, which includes the first Leon eHybrid, will soon be revealed to the public at the Geneva motor show. It becomes available in the second quarter. There are both five-door hatchback and estate (ST: Sportstourer) body styles. The SC (three-door), dropped in 2018, is not being replaced. There will also be a Leon eHybrid and an eHybrid ST.
The hatchback is 4,368mm long (+86mm), 1,800mm wide (-16mm) and 1,456mm high (-3mm) with a 2,686mm wheelbase (50mm more than the third generation Leon). Equivalent dimensions for the ST are 4,642mm (+93mm), 1,800mm (-16mm) and 1,448mm (-3mm). The wheelbase is identical to that of the five-door. Boot capacities are 380 and 617 litres.
The engine line-up includes TSI (petrol), TDI (diesel), TGI (Compressed Natural Gas), eTSI (mild-hybrid) and eHybrid (plug-in hybrid). Full details of powertrains as well as the life cycle forecast timings can be found in PLDB.
We haven’t yet seen it but the brand’s first EV to have been designed as one from the outset will become available in 2020. To be potentially called el-Born, it will be based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB architecture and about the same size as the Volkswagen ID.3 with which it will share so much, including a production line.
The model name, taken from a 2019 concept, refers to a trendy district of Barcelona and is also meant to be a shortening of ‘electric-born’.
There will be another SEAT electric vehicle especially for the Chinese market and manufactured by JAC. Details can be found in PLDB (see link below).
The brand’s largest current SUV is the Ateca. The 4,363mm long model was announced to the media in February 2016, making its public debut weeks later at the Geneva motor show. A more rugged looking Ateca X-Perience had its public debut at that year’s Paris motor show.
The second generation generation Ateca (expected in 2023 and based on MQB A/B Evo) would not be built in the same plant as the current one, Volkswagen announced in November 2018. It should have been manufactured in a new factory which the Group planned to have erected in Turkey but there were reports in October 2019 claiming that this project had been placed on hold. An announcement about whether or not the facility will go ahead had been expected later in February. Now though, that statement apparently won’t be made until later in the year. The plant’s location is said to be Manisa in the west of the country.
Cupra
The Ateca was the first vehicle for what had formerly been a trim level. Cupra the brand is presumed to be nicely profitable, all of its models being pitched at premium levels and manufactured alongside cheaper SEAT equivalents. In the case of this SUV, the Volkswagen Group’s 221kW (300PS) 2.0-litre TSI turbocharged petrol engine features and there is all-wheel drive and a seven-speed DSG.
Available in relevant markets since the end of 2018, the Cupra Ateca is now about six months away from a facelift due its launch taking place at a time when the SEAT original was already more than two years old. The second generation edition will probably arrive in mid-2023 after a world debut at that year’s Geneva motor show.
The follow-up to the SEAT Leon Cupra will instead be part of the Cupra model range. The name is therefore reversed, with Cupra being the brand and León the model. It won’t be available until the fourth quarter of 2020, SEAT’s then CEO Luca de Meo stated in April 2019. After being revealed to the media earlier on 20 February, both hatchback and estate will have their motor show debuts at the Geneva Salon.
The Cupra Leon eHybrid was also revealed to the media on 20 February. It has the same powertrain as the Golf GTE and therefore higher outputs than the SEAT’s Leon eHybrid. That means a 180kW (245PS) and 400Nm 1.4-litre petrol turbo engine and single motor combination, with energy stored in a 13kWh lithium-ion battery.
The mid-life facelifts for all Leons will probably happen in the third quarter of 2023, while the successors are penciled in for late 2026.
The Formentor will be the first Cupra which has no SEAT equivalent, although such a vehicle might be added to the main brand’s range in a year or two’s time. Debuting as the Formentor concept and powered by a plug-in hybrid powertrain, this coupé crossover will become available in the second half of 2020 after premiering at the Geneva motor show. The Formentor eHybrid should be launched at the same time as the non-PHEV variant(s). The mid-life facelift should happen in the first quarter of 2024, the second generation then being due in 2027.
Will there also be a large electric SUV Coupe in the future model range? Such a vehicle may have been heralded by the Tavascan Electric Concept. This was powered by two motors with a combined output of 225kW (306PS) and a 77kWh battery pack. The prototype premiered at the Frankfurt IAA in September 2019. A potential series production model is likely to be around 2-3 years away.
Reports for many other manufacturers’ future models are grouped in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Future product program intelligence
More detail on past, current and forthcoming models can be found in PLDB. That includes models which were not discussed in the above report.
This was the sixth feature in a series examining the current and future models of Volkswagen AG’s passenger vehicle brands. The first one looked at Volkswagen’s global cars range, including future EVs, while the second examined VW brand SUVs, crossovers and pick-ups. After this came Audi cars, including electric ones, and then a look at that brand’s SUVs, before the focus turned to Škoda. Next comes Porsche, before this series ends with Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini.
