SUVs appeared more than a decade ago. First were the premium brands, which gave their SUVs more comfort and dynamism on the asphalt with proposals such as the BMW X5. Some other generalist brand saw the seam of this trend and got down to work to create their own 4×2 or provide their sedan models with off-road capabilities . The launch of the Nissan Qashqai and its overwhelming success in sales was a before and after in the automotive market. A segment was born and had its own name: SUV. At that time Seat was already showing the first sketches of what we currently see circulating under the name Arona, Ateca and Tarraco .
The road to vehicle production hides much more than we imagine. Few buyers and owners get used to the idea of the years that it takes to take a drawing to the manufacture of the car that you have parked in your garage. Trends, like fashion, change over time and new needs arise derived from social changes. For example: nowadays families travel for pleasure to places away from the hustle and bustle of the city and for that reason they need a vehicle capable of handling unpaved sections or with adverse conditions. That was the idea that started this whole SUV movement, vehicles with a sporty look but with off-road qualities.
What few of us expected was that the need of a few would become a current that accumulates sales and more sales. Today’s crossover buyer is n’t even looking for a car capable of hitting dirt roads, they just like its towering, open-country, elevated aesthetic. Seat knew how to read the evolution of the SUV buyer and wait for its moment. They were by no means the first to arrive at the segment, but they did so with a very elaborate proposal, benefiting from the experience and knowledge acquired by those who watch the bulls from the sidelines (for a time).
Before the launch of the Seat Ateca in 2016 , probe balloons arrived in prototype format. Its sporty proportions, the light signature of its front and the marked lines of its bodywork did not come suddenly, they are the result of the evolution of proposals that did not reach the circulation and that we will review with you today.
