New Seat Ateca SUV - all you need to know

The Seat Ateca is Seat’s first SUV. It’s a rival to the Nissan Qashqai and will reach the UK in September.

What is it?

The Ateca is one of up to three SUVs Seat plans to launch in the next few years. It has a footprint similar to the Seat Leon and dimensions broadly in line with the Nissan Qashqai. It will compete head on with the likes of the Qashqai, Mazda CX-5, Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage.

The Ateca is a very important model for Seat. SUVs are now the best-selling car type in Europe, and this is the first time Seat has ever offered such a car. 

The design inside and out is very similar to the Leon on which the Ateca is based.

What engines can I choose from?

The Ateca will be offered with standard front-wheel drive and optional four-wheel drive from launch and a familiar range of turbocharged petrol and diesel engines.

The entry-level petrol engine is a 113bhp three-cylinder 1.0 TSI. A 1.4 TSI with 148bhp and cylinder deactivation technology is the other petrol engine. A 1.6 TDI diesel is offered with 113bhp and a 2.0 TDI with 148bhp or 187bhp.

All engines come with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard, with a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic gearbox optional on more powerful engines. All-wheel drive is offered on the diesel engines only.

The most efficient model in the range is the 1.6 TDI with a manual gearbox and front-wheel drive. This has average fuel economy of 65.7mpg and CO2 emissions of 112g/km..

How much equipment does it come with?

LED headlights will feature on the outside, alongside a feature that illuminates the area below the front doors at night when the doors are unlocked.

There are plenty of smartphone-friendly features on the Ateca, including a wireless charging function and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.

Other driver assistance features include Traffic Jam Assist, which can steer, accelerate and brake the car at speeds of up to 37mph in heavy traffic. Another new feature is Emergency Assist. This detects if the driver has been inactive for a period before pinging an alert, pulsing the brake and then bringing the car to a standstill if there’s no reaction.

How much will it cost?

The Ateca starts at £17,990 in entry-level S trim, increasing to £19,590 in SE spec and £23,905 for Xcellence models. The most expensive Xcellence model is priced at £29,990.

How good are its rivals?

The Ateca is up against the five-star Nissan Qashqai, so competition for the new model will be fierce. The Mazda CX-5 is another strong performer – we rate it as a four-star car – while the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage come in with three-star ratings. 

Anything else I should know?

One of the Ateca’s killer features is its boot capacity. This is rated at 510 litres (dropping to 485 litres on all-wheel-drive versions), or 80 litres greater than its chief rival, the Nissan Qashqai. This figure is three litres shy of the Tucson, which is slightly longer, and beats the 491 litres of the Sportage. The CX-5 is rated at 503 litres.

Interested prospective Seat Ateca owners can register their interest from today at seat.co.uk.