Jurgen Stackmann, the new Chairman of Seat, has said that an SUV is high on his list of priorities and may be launched as soon as 2014.
“The upcoming trend is definitely that SUVs will play a role. Is an SUV an interesting model for Seat? Yes, of course,” Stackmann told British car magazine Auto Express. Seat’s first SUV, which was previewed in 2011 by the IBX Concept (pictured here), is likely to be based on the new Leon.
Similar in size to the VW Tiguan, Seat’s SUV will be the fourth member of the Leon family, adding to the SC three-door, five-door and ST wagon versions. However, it is not clear whether the SUV will use the name Leon or not.
The Leon-based SUV may be joined in the future by a second SUV, a spin-off VW’s smaller Taigun, set to be introduced in 2016. Like the Up on which the Taigun is based, Skoda and Seat versions are also under consideration.
As for Seat’s sporty side, the news are not good. Stackmann is not a big fan of sports cars. “Seat is not a manufacturer of sports cars, it’s not a niche manufacturer,” the CEO said.
His focus will therefore be on increasing Seat’s market share in Europe before expanding to emerging markets around the world. So far in 2013, Seat’s results are promising. In Western Europe, sales rose 10.6 percent in the first six months, while global sales increased by 11.5 percent compared with the same period last year.
By Dan Mihalascu
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