The announcement was made by SEAT chairman Jürgen Stackmann today (26th March) at the Annual Results Press Presentation and follows nearly two years’ work by SEAT on the design and development of the new model at its Martorell facility.

The new model will be based on the Volkswagen Group’s MQB platform and marks the brand’s entry into the growing SUV segment, which represents close to one million cars per year in Europe alone and has increased more than 40% over the past five years.

The brand said the new SUV will ‘further broaden SEAT’s product range, enabling the brand to maintain its current growth momentum following the successful launch of the Leon family, which is receiving numerous accolades and awards across Europe’.

‘This is an excellent piece of news, since it takes SEAT into a new territory, in one of the largest and fastest growing segments in the world,’ declared Mr Stackmann. ‘The SUV is an important pillar in the future corporate strategy and is a major step forward on the road to reaching sustainable profitability for the company,’ he added.

Development of the SUV will continue at the SEAT Technical Centre in Martorell.