Why the Seat Ateca must be "unavoidable"

Last year, the SUV that best-selling car in Europe for the first time.

According to figures from Jato Dynamics, SUV sales grew 24% year-on-year to 3.2 million units and market share increased by 2.7% to 22.5%. In other words, nearly one in four cars sold in Europe are SUVs, and it's going all the time.

So when the chair with the launch of the first ever SUV, Seat Ateca, could not be better. This is why the company, which only really have a presence in Europe, not just talking about one SUV but a family of their future. SUV, if you have rights, can finally put a chair on the map.

Chair boss Luca de Meo gave insight on unraveling of Ateca be just what it means for the seat.

He said the SUV presented an opportunity for "a profitable and sustainable success for the brand Seat". He added that they can help make the chair "more relevant, and can not be avoided to a large group".

The last point is the most interesting. In the past it was too easy to be able to walk past a chair over or under-designed and wondered what the brand stands. But, in a process that begins with the new Leon range, Seat finally started to make more sense, as a brand with style but not fussy cars, sophisticated basics, good, practical interior, a powerful dynamic, and a good value. Throw all this into the body of the SUV and the market could eventually take more notice. De Meo said he wanted Seats become "unavoidable".

For all the recent improvements, Chair now need to move to the next level. Various Leons will only take a seat so far. The chair has been doing its homework and find SUVs play an "important role in the brand image" and the arrival of the range "was a key contributor to improved brand image", according to de Meo. This, he added, is a challenge but also an opportunity.

comments de Meo carry extra weight because he has led the brand for more than 100 days now, and the initial impression is that the chair is a brand that is "underrated". "Coming here, the company is much stronger than the perception," he said. "We did a great quality car. We made Audi. We designed a great car ourselves."

So what does he think this is for? "It may be history. There has been a lot of ups and downs. There are many changes in the way people have come up with a new plan, said Chair small cars, large cars, sporty cars. Now we have a good foundation."

chairs image problems and low sales history has been well documented, but it's a company I've always liked. Whatever you think of Seat, there is now a more coherent strategy in place, and it will be interesting to see if it really - and finally - make seat "unavoidable".

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