New Seat Leon rivals VW GolfDetails and images of Seat's Ford Focus challenger

25 July 2012

Seat has unveiled its new five-door Leon hatchback, the firm’s mid-sized family vehicle and rival to the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf.

Seat Leon

The new Seat Leon will continue to take on the VW Golf and Ford Focus

Full UK pricing and specification will be confirmed closer to the car’s launch at the end of the year.

New design, improved packaging

The new Leon is 5cm shorter than the car it replaces, but boasts a 6cm longer wheelbase. This means more interior space – especially for rear passengers – and a larger boot.

At 380 litres the luggage compartment is 40 litres bigger than before, and it's a useful 30 litres bigger than the Volkswagen Golf's.

The new car sports a more angular and aggressive design in line with Seat’s current styling ethos. Up front there’s a deep bumper with optional full LED headlights.

Seat Leon

New Leon beats nearest rivals for boot capacity

74.3mpg, 99g/km CO2

The new car’s engine line-up features a 1.6 TDI producing 86bhp and 104bhp and a 148bhp 2.0-litre turbodiesel. A 181bhp version of the latter engine will top the range.

Petrol engine choices will comprise the firm’s existing 1.2-litre TSI turbocharged unit in either 85bhp or 104bhp guise. A 120bhp 1.4 will also be available, as well as a 178bhp 1.8-litre TSI.

Seat has confirmed the most efficient engine will be the 104bhp 1.6 TDI, returning a claimed 74.3mpg combined with 99g/km CO2 emissions, meaning zero car tax (VED). The 2.0 TDI will return a claimed average of 70.6mpg.

Safety systems

The new Leon will feature a number of safety systems to monitor driver concentration. These include drowsiness detection that tells the driver to take a break if their concentration wanes, as well as full beam assistance for the headlights and lane-keep assist.

This last piece of kit can make corrections to the steering to keep the car within its lane on a motorway.

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