Seat unveils the Arona SUV

Seat has revealed its latest model and the smallest SUV in its line-up – the Arona.

The compact crossover joins the Ateca in Seat’s fledgling SUV fleet and with a third model currently in development.

Dr Matthias Rabe, Seat’s executive vice-president for research and development, said: “We’re certain that the new Seat Arona is the perfect answer to the current demands of our customers, in terms of dynamic behaviour, comfort, safety and state-of-the-art technology. We are once again setting new standards in the segment.”

Designed as an SUV for the city, the Arona is 69mm longer than the new Ibiza hatchback and 99mm taller. A steeper windscreen allows for more cabin space plus the Arona gets a 400-litre boot.

Engine-wise, the Arona comes with two petrol options with three power outages – a 1.0-litre three-cylinder TSI with 93bhp and 113bhp, as well as a four-cylinder 147bhp TSI – and two TDI diesel units producing – 93bhp and 113bhp.

The top-spec petrol comes with cylinder deactivation and a six-speed manual gearbox but is only available to FR models.

The compact crossover will also be available with the full range of Seat’s driving assistance features including Front Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, Tiredness Recognition System and Multi-Collision Braking. Optional systems include Rear Traffic Alert, Blind Spot Detection and Park Assistance System that helps with parallel and angled parking.

Arona will be available in four trim levels – Reference, Style, FR and XCELLENCE – and will be fitted with an eight-inch touchscreen display, a connectivity hub with wireless charging and signal amplifier, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and MirrorLink.

Other features include dual-zone climate control, ambient LED lights and on FR models dual-mode suspension and Seat Drive Profile with four driving modes – Normal, Sport, Eco and Individual.

On the reveal of the Arona, Luca de Meo, President of Seat, said: “We at Seat are very persistent. With our biggest product offensive, by the time our Large SUV reaches the market, Seat will have launched, on average, a new vehicle every six months in two and a half years. Seat has allocated a total of 900 million euros in investments and R&D expenditure to the Ibiza and Arona.

“The commercial launch of the New Ibiza is taking place this very month, and Arona will be premiered at the Frankfurt Motorshow.”

By Jack Healy