The image was unveiled at a company dinner held to celebrate the range’s 30-year history and attended by key designers of the model in the past.

As reported by Autocar, current design chief Mesonero-Romanos said: ‘This is an opportunity to redesign an icon. It's going to have great horizontality, and blister lines developed from the Leon. The lines of the current car will change but the spirit won't.

‘It will be a design revolution for the Ibiza, as firstly the market demands it and secondly to set it apart from the Leon. It will have strong character, tautness and a feeling of movement when stopped. The spirit of a fun, agile drive will remain. It will be a different car, but clearly an Ibiza.’

Meanwhile the current model is to get a refresh next year.

‘The current Ibiza, of course, still has life and we're still planning a long life for it based on innovations,’ said Mesonero-Romanos.