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SEAT Ateca Spotted in Spain, Looks Different at Night

Have you noticed how car design completely changes at night? The bright and sophisticated LED lights count a heck of a lot more than during the day. Meanwhile, the overall ugliness of something like a Panamera can be forgiven.
SEAT Ateca Spotted in Spain, Looks Different at Night 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
It's also much easier to identify particular models. For example, if you see a big SUV with headlights that look like a flipped T, that's a Volvo, while most new Audis have horizontal ] symbols at the rear.

The design of a SEAT model is a little more tricky to explain. However, there's no mistaking the Ateca for anything other than a Leon sister car.

Less than a month after making its debut at the Geneva Motor Show, the Spanish SUV is now being tested in what looks like Barcelona. We found this video showing an orange pre-production model. About four years separate the Leon and Ateca, so the latter benefits from newer technology.

For example, you can specify to have puddle lights that project the SEAT logo from the side mirrors. It's a feature commonly found on Range Rovers, not affordable SUVs. Both the headlights and taillights have a 3D effect, and you can choose between tens of different selectable interior mood colors.

The Ateca was previewed by the SEAT 20v20 Concept in 2015. It's named after the Spanish town of Ateca in Aragon. Due to cost difficulties, SEAT chose not to produce this car in Martorell. Instead, it will be assembled at the same factory in the Czech Republic where the Yeti and upcoming Kodiak model will come from.

The basic model will feature a 1.0 TSI engine with just three cylinders and will cost about €18,000. However, the one in our video apparently features a diesel engine, most likely the big 2-liter one with either 150 or 190 PS.

For some odd reason, SEAT chose to make its SUV conservatively small. The wheelbase is about the same as the Leon's at 2.64 meters, while the overall length is about 10 centimeters more.

Something else we noticed while watching this video is that the Ateca is the only VW Group SUV with only one body design. The Tiguan has three: normal, off-road and R-Line. Even the Leon is available in three body styles, plus the FR pack and the Cupra versions.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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