- Seat is testing a facelifted version of the Arona SUV, which has been in the market since 2017.
- Camouflage covers the subcompact’s new grille, bumpers, and lights.
- Seat gave us a sneak look at the revised Arona and Ibiza a year ago.
Seat has been overshadowed by the Cupra brand in recent years, and there were even reports of Seat ditching the car game to focus on urban mobility devices. But the Seat brand still outsells Cupra and one of the models that keeps it in front is the Arona SUV you see here testing in facelifted form.
The B-segment, or subcompact, Arona was Seat’s second most popular car last year despite it being no spring chicken. It was launched in 2017 but still found 90,300 buyers in 2024, a rise of 1.5 percent in 2023 (but down from a 110,700 peak in 2019). Only the long-running Ibiza hatch, which notched up 106,700 sales last year, kept the Arona from the top spot.
Related: Seat Bounces Back, Confirms Facelifts For Ibiza, Arona, Leon, And Ateca
Seat has already facelifted the Arona once before, in 2021, but with newer rivals like Ford’s Puma consistently outperforming it, and plenty of competition from other brands, including Toyota, Honda, and Opel, another makeover couldn’t really wait much longer in the absence of an all-new car.
But with sales at least consistent, Seat isn’t about to go crazy for this year’s revamp, which was actually revealed way back in March of 2024 (we’ve included those pictures below). While the basic shape of the headlight units looks the same as before, we know from last year’s reveal that the lower edge has a slash-cut design and the DRLs are different. And although the grille also appears identical in shape in the spy shots, we know that its side now features a kind towards the top, and there’s a new mesh pattern.
The bumper’s lower air intakes are also new, and it looks like the circular lights mounted in the bumper may have been deleted. We don’t get a look inside (nor did we last year), where we expect to see a carryover dash architecture but some tech improvements including a better touchscreen infotainment system, and hopefully a boost for the so-so trim quality.
Engine options are unlikely to change much, so bank on the majority of Aronas getting 94 hp (95 PS) or the much zipper 113 hp (115 PS) 1.0-liter TSI motors, with a 148 hp (150 PS) 1.5 available for buyers who want to push the boat out and their right foot down.
