SEAT's FAB FOUR TAKE HONOURS AT THE WHAT CAR? AWARDS 2018
/ Across-the-board success for SEAT with award wins and Best Buy category wins for four models in the What Car? Car of the Year Awards 2018
/ ‘Best Small SUV’ title for the just-launched Arona
/ New Ibiza named ‘Best Small Car’
/ Leon named ‘Best Family Car’ for less than £18,000
/ Ateca picks up ‘Best Family SUV’ for less than £20,000 title
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SEAT has taken the What Car? Car of the Year Awards 2018 by storm, with four different models – Arona, Ibiza, Leon and Ateca – each taking category wins. It’s a clean-sweep for the quartet of new cars that has spearheaded the Spanish manufacturer’s largest product offensive to date.
The awards were presented at a glitzy ceremony at Grosvenor House Hotel in London last night. The results mark an immediate success for the Arona, the latest addition to the fast-growing SEAT line-up. Still in its launch phase in the UK, it has claimed the ‘Best Small SUV’ title in a hotly contested category, following up a glowing five-star What Car? magazine review. It continues SEAT’s dominance of the category, with its larger brother, the Ateca, having taken the award in 2017.
The What Car? judges referenced the fact that the Arona “is more affordable than most rivals” thanks to “great finance deals” and praised the “comfortable and well-equipped interior.” The impressive range of personalisation options – including the multiple no-cost combinations of contrasting roof and bodywork colour available – were “the cherry on top”.
The New Ibiza carried off the ‘Best Small Car’ title, confirming its pre-eminence in the UK’s supermini class and, like Arona, building on a five-star assessment from What Car’s rigorous road test team. The judges declared: “The Ibiza is everything a small car should be – it’s agile, practical and offers low running costs. There are just no weaknesses in its armour.”
When it comes to a new car for the family at price less than £18,000, the SEAT Leon – also a “best buy” winner in 2017 – was named the top choice. “SEAT is on a roll at the moment,” the judges commented, “and the Leon kicked off its current revival. With a well-crafted interior and a focused driving style…it’s a great win for SEAT at this price point.”
The Ateca (another member of the exclusive What Car? five-star car club) completed the impressive SEAT showing, acclaimed as the ‘Best Family SUV’ for less than £20,000. “Staggering value for money” in the judges’ opinion, the Ateca was rewarded for its impressive equipment features right from entry-level and the “punchy” performance of its 1.0 TSI Ecomotive 115 PS engine, adding a “fun” dimension to the car’s all round excellent functionality.
Commenting on the brand’s impressive night, SEAT UK Director, Richard Harrison, said: “These awards are among the most keenly sought and highly-respected in the car industry and it is a tremendous result for us to have collected so much silverware in one evening. There is a tangible sense of momentum with SEAT currently, and the judges’ comments confirm how we’re succeeding in our mission to give our customers even more style, quality, technology, choice and performance, with value-for-money guaranteed.”
ends
SEAT is the only company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets cars in Spain. A member of the Volkswagen Group, the multinational has its headquarters in Martorell (Barcelona), exporting 80% of its vehicles, and is present in over 80 countries through a network of 1,700 dealerships. In 2017, SEAT achieved worldwide sales of nearly 470,000 vehicles.
The SEAT Group employs close to 14,700 professionals at its three production centres – Barcelona, El Prat de Llobregat and Martorell, where it manufactures the highly successful Ibiza, Leon and Arona. Additionally, the company produces the Ateca and the Toledo in the Czech Republic, the Alhambra in Portugal and the Mii in Slovakia.
The multinational has a Technical Centre, which operates as a knowledge hub that brings together 1,000 engineers who are focussed on developing innovation for Spain’s largest industrial investor in R&D. SEAT already features the latest connectivity technology in its vehicle range and is currently engaged in the company’s global digitalisation process to promote the mobility of the future.
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The All-New Ibiza named 'Best Small Car'
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Leon named 'Best Family Car' for less than £18,000
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Ateca picks up 'Best Family SUV' for less than £20,000
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The just-launched Ateca won 'Best Small SUV'
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