Seat Ateca

TRUTHFULLY, THINGS WERE looking much rosier for Seat even before the Ateca’s launch. The comparative success of the current Leon had already ensured that the brand was heading steadily out of the doldrums that had previously blighted its results. Nevertheless, the Ateca threatens to be the break-out model its maker never had – not just a survival guarantor, but the steady multi-year breeze it needs to find the open waters of lasting profitability.

Conceptually, it does not stand out as much of a game changer. The Ateca is a compact SUV in a very crowded class of compact SUVS. It is well sized, practical, usable, efficient and affordable – features also attributable to many of its rivals. But it is very handsome, too, and appreciably good to drive – attributes far harder to locate in a segment where tending towards the forgettable has become the norm.

By uncannily ticking all the boxes, the Ateca stands out as the market’s all-rounder – precisely the kind of seamless, multi-purpose appeal that has made cars like the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Fiesta endlessly popular with buyers. The Nissan Qashqai showcased the same sort of quality – and in outpointing that best seller, the Seat proved just how exceptional it threatened to be.

Now, of course, it’s up to the brand and the dealerships to capitalise on the sprint start. Achieving its ambitions will mean persuading a potentially huge customer base that Seat – and not Nissan, Ford, Hyundai, Peugeot, Mazda or Toyota – is a safe bet. As its first SUV and arguably its most compelling car yet, the Ateca has finally provided Seat with the chance to make that argument on a telling scale. In those terms, only the Alfa Romeo Giulia rivals it in game-changing stakes.