Seat has officially presented the Toledo Concept car only a few days before the grand opening of the 82nd Geneva International Auto Salon.
As you can see for yourself, sans the large alloy wheels and the premium interior trim that includes two-tone leather surfaces with red accent stitching, the Toledo is ready to enter production, which it will, as Seat itself admitted that sales will start “later in 2012”.
The new Toledo takes the series from one extreme, which was the previous generation’s extremely odd-looking MPV shape with a hastily crafted boot, to another, by which we mean “concept’s” ultra-conservative three-box design.
The Spanish automaker may claim that the new Toledo “combines the proportions of a classic saloon car with a sporty, almost coupé-like design”, but what we see here is a car that closely resembles the VW Jetta sedan both on the exterior and even more so, in the interior. It also looks a lot like the Skoda Mission L study.
However, at 4.48 meters long, the Toledo is close to 200mm (7.9-inches) shorter than the 4.65 meters long Jetta while it also rides on a shorter wheelbase (2.60 meters vs. 2.65 meters).
And unlike the Volkswagen model, it gets a large rear hatch that opens together with the rear window revealing a roomy luggage compartment with more than 500 liters of space.
Seat’s boss, James Muir, had this to say about the Toledo Concept:
“The SEAT Toledo Concept illustrates our idea of the perfect mid-range car. It is an excellent combination of emotional design, top-level usability and dynamic driving characteristics. The subsequent production model, our new Toledo, will write a whole new success story with its clear SEAT identity, its excellent quality standard and exceptional value-for-money.”
“Following the Mii family and the new Ibiza, the new Toledo marks the next wave in our model offensive and growth strategy,” he added.
Seat did not say with which engines the Toledo will be offered, possibly because we all know that it will get the same type of TSI and TDI units available on the rest of the Group’s similarly-sized models.
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