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2019 SEAT Leon Will Have 50mm-Longer Wheelbase, Amazon Alexa

Spanish carmaker SEAT is planning to have a trio of crossovers: Arona, Ateca and Tarraco. Hover, the Leon is still the core of the brand, and it's getting an all-new generation next year.
2019 SEAT Leon Will Have 50mm-Longer Wheelbase, Amazon Alexa 1 photo
Photo: SEAT
Information about the car is slowly trickling in, the latest coming from German website Auto Zeitung. It talks about an evolution of the current model's sporty design, with a broad grille that goes across the bumper, narrower LED headlights and... yeah, their rendering looks kind of ugly.

But SEAT hasn't made a car we didn't like since 2012, so we'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Everything that comes from that brand looks slightly cheap but sharp enough to cut yourself on.

Getting down to the nitty-gritty, we're told that the wheelbase will grow by about 50mm to 2.68mm. They are missing 4mm, but we'll let that slide. The overall length of the hatchback will grow to about 4.3 meters while the Leon ST wagon will be about 4.6 meters long. So does that mean the width will stay the same? Probably.

If you want a bigger MQB-based compact, we hear the next Skoda Octavia will be a monster. The infotainment is the big thing, though. We've heard that SEAT has been tasked with developing a system that will be shared with the other brands.

The latest report claims that it will feature Amazon Alexa in addition to the familiar Android an Apple experiences. Over-air-updates will even help diagnose mechanical problems.

As far as the engines are concerned, there are no big surprises. The 1.4 TSI will be replaced by the 1.5 that's already being used by the Ibiza. The output could go as high as 200 HP. Could this be the mystery hybrid engine for the Ibiza Cupra and Fabia RS we keep hearing about?

Below the 1.5 sits the 1.0-liter, which is already available. There's no talk of diesel engines, but we doubt the VW Group will give up on the trusty 2.0 TDI. At the 2018 Vienna Motor Symposium in Austria, they unveiled the EA288 Evo is a newly developed unit with a mild hybrid setup and up to 204 HP.

As for the Cupra, it's not going away, but it won't get any extra power either.
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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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