The new SEAT Leon has been voted “Best Car of the Year in Catalonia 2014” by the Associació Premsa Motor de Catalunya (APMC) after an in-depth review of all market launches last year.
More than thirty professionals from different Catalan media outlets made up the voting panel for a prize that has just held its first edition. They awarded top scores to significant aspects of the new Leon such as design, active and passive safety, technological innovation, user-friendliness, after-sales service and maintenance, value-for-money, environmental benefits and recyclable component content. After careful consideration, the Leon outscored the second and third place contenders Peugeot 308 and BMW i3, an outstanding result that underscores its leading position within the segment.
Fast becoming a bestseller
The new Leon is clearly a rising star whose enormous popularity among trade press experts is mirrored by its sales success. Worldwide deliveries of the Spanish compact went up by 44% to over 102,000 units in 2013, making it a cornerstone of company sales, which last year increased by 10.6% and reached the highest figure in the past five years with 355,000 vehicles sold.
The SEAT Leon range is currently available with five petrol-powered engines – 1.2 TSI with 86 and 105 PS (manual and DSG); 1.4 TSI with 122 and 140 PS; and 1.8 TSI with 180 PS (manual and DSG), as well as five common rail Diesel engines – 1.6 TDI CR with 90, 105 (manual and DSG) and 110 PS, and the powerful 2.0 TDI CR with 150 and 184 PS (both available with manual and DSG gearbox). Special mention goes to the fact that the Leon range will be extended this February with the arrival of the new CUPRA version, which will be available for the first time in two body styles, a three and a five-door, and two high-performance levels of 265 and 280 PS.
SEAT is the only company in its sector with the full-range capacity to design, develop, manufacture and market cars in Spain. A member of the Volkswagen Group, the multinational has its headquarters in Martorell (Barcelona), exporting more than 80% of its vehicles, and is present in more than 75 countries. In 2013 SEAT worldwide sales amounted to 355,000 units.
SEAT Group employs 14,000 professionals at its three production centres in Barcelona − Zona Franca, El Prat de Llobregat and Martorell, where it manufactures the highly successful Ibiza and Leon, amongst other models. Additionally, the company produces the Alhambra in Palmela (Portugal), the Mii in Bratislava (Slovakia) and the Toledo in Mladá Boleslav (Czech Republic) at Volkswagen Group plants.
The Spanish multinational also has a Technical Center, a ‘knowledge hub’, bringing together close to 1,000 engineers whose goal is to be the driving force behind innovation for the number one industrial investor in RD in Spain. In line with its declared commitment to environmental protection, SEAT undertakes and bases its core activity on sustainability, namely reduction of CO2 emissions, energy efficiency, as well as recycling and re-use of resources.