Striking SEAT designs on the way

SEAT’s design chief, Jurgen Stackmann, has announced that more exciting and striking SEATs are on the way, hinting the Spanish car-maker will replace its conservative line-up with more style-led vehicles.

Stackmann said the brand was now in a position to employ more extrovert designs in an interview with British car mag, Autocar, and that the first car to demonstrate the future direction of SEAT design will be a small SUV to rival the Nissan Juke in 2019.

“Our first job has been to establish the core factors of the brand: reliability, safety, good value. Without these things, a design-led approach would be just fluff,” he said in the revealing interview.

Stackmann went on to say that SEAT designs of the future must be more overt than a Volkswagen, admitting “there’s more scope to do more.”

As well as saying SEATs of the future will be more extrovert Stackmann warned he wouldn’t get too carried away.

“My caution is that we must never stray into fashion, where design compromises functionality or creates a look that is only desirable for a short period of time”, he told Autocar.

Next year SEAT will launch its first ever SUV that will rival the Nissan Qashqai based on the 20V20 concept that was unveiled at this year’s Geneva.

The arrival of the SUV, it’s been rumoured, could see SEAT start selling cars in Australia.

Stackmann, speaking to motoring.com.au last October, said: “I think our new Leon range clearly fits the Australian market. With the compact SUV coming in 2016 that will be an appropriate time to re-enter the market.”

"First we need the right line-up to start with. With the Leon family range, plus the SUV coming, it would be a very good time to look at Australia."