Seat unveils Ateca SUV: Spain finally joins the 4x4 market

This is the Ateca, and it’s going to take a pop at the Nissan Qashqai

Despite the prolifertion of SUVs throughout the rest of the VW Group, Seat has never had one. That’s unless you count the forgettable Altea Freetrack 4 crossover, of course. And we won’t if you won’t.

So anyway. The wait is over. This is the Ateca, and it’s going to take a pop at the Nissan Qashqai.

That’s quite a task to set yourself. But aside from being more or less the same size, the Ateca treads a promisingly familiar path.

It’s based on the Leon, both inside and out, and features that vehicle’s multimedia set-up and semi-autonomous assist systems. Needless to say, Seat is putting a heavy emphasis on the ’sport’ part of the whole sport-utility thing with the vehicle’s styling and general yummy-mummy appeal.

Under the bonnet, at launch there’ll be a choice of 1.0 and 1.4 TSI petrol engines and 1.6 and 2.0 TDI diesels. The latter comes in two states of tune, including a 187bhp range-topper.

The usual six-speed manual box is standard across the range, with a seven-speed DSG unit for a few dollars more.

If you want four-wheel drive, you’ll have to buy a diesel. Even these will only be front-driven as standard, but the same all-wheel drive set-up used elsewhere in the VW Group will be offered as an option.

Further down the line, Seat says there’ll be a hotter FR version, and stay tuned for news of a Cupra. That should certainly tick the sport box – and give Seat something its rivals only tend to offer at the premium end of the market.

The Ateca will go on sale in the UK this autmn. There’s no indication yet on prices, but what we do know is that Seat is also readying a smaller SUV for launch a couple of years from now. The company is working on a larger sport-ute, too, with a projected on-sale date in 2019.