Barcelona-based Seat presents its new León SC car model in Geneva

Geneva (ACN).- Car manufacturer Seat, which is part of the Volkswagen group, presented its new car model on Tuesday at the Geneva International Car Fair. Seat, based in the Catalan capital, will assemble the new car in its Greater Barcelona plant. The new León SC has a more coupé design, with three doors, which will be on sale by May. The new car model comes after last year’s launch of the five-door Seat León at the Paris Car Fair. James Muir, the President of Seat, stated that the brand will “explore new territories” with the new model, which has “dynamic” bodywork. According to Muir, this “guarantees the pleasure of driving” without diminishing “functionality”. However, the Catalan car manufacturer has also confirmed that it will stop building its Seat Exeo saloon car model as of July. In 2012, Seat posted overall losses, due to a drop in the Spanish market. However, the brand has opened 40 new car dealerships in Germany, which is fast becoming Seat’s main market.

The new SC is the second model of the León range and is called upon to play “an essential role in the invigoration of Seat’s future successes”, stated Muir. The new Seat León SC is 35 mm shorter than the five-door León, and its height has also been reduced by 13 mm, which makes the car look like a true coupé.

Despite its more reduced size, the new model is thought to retain its everyday functionality, as was emphasised by the Volkswagen brand through a press release. The car has enough space in its rear seats to sit in comfort and not have problems fitting in one’s knees. In addition, the trunk has the same capacity (380 litres) as its five-door twin.

The new León SC represents a new step in Seat’s product offensive, together with the recent incorporations: the renewed Ibiza, the new Toledo, the five-door León and the Ibiza Cupra. The Barcelona-based brand has also confirmed that the León car range will continue to grow with a family Sports Tourer model by the end of 2013.