The production of the family crossover of the Seat brand, which is a close relative of other SUVs of the Volkswagen group, is being completed. He will not have a successor.
Production of the mid-size crossover Seat Tarraco started in 2018; it is based on Volkswagen's MQB platform, which shares the model with the Skoda Kodiaq and Volkswagen Tiguan. The company noted that “Seat Tarraco was a success, but it will not have a successor.” According to statistics from Jato Dynamics, in the first five months of this year, the model sold 9,465 copies in Europe, which is 50% more than in January-May 2023. For comparison, the figure for the Czech “brother” for the same period is 33,756 units. (5% less).
In the photo: Seat Tarraco
According to the British publication Autocar, production of the Tarraco was discontinued in the second quarter of this year. Now, from mid-2024, the Spanish manufacturer intends to focus on a new model – the Cupra Terramar. This SUV was announced back in March 2022: then the future new product, the name of which was not made public, was hidden under a layer of fabric. Cupra declassified the name and appearance of the SUV a few months later as part of a presentation dedicated to the brand's future plans.
Cupra Terramar is also based on the MQB “trolley”, in fact, this new product will be a restyled version of the Audi Q3 model; we note that the Germans are now developing an updated SUV. Production of the new Cupra will be launched at the VW concern plant in Hungary, where the Audi cross-platform crossover is currently being produced.
Recall that the overall length of the Cupra Terramar is 4.5 meters, while the current Audi Q3 SUV is 4484 mm, and the Sportback version is 4500 mm. For comparison, the retired Seat Tarraco has 4,735 mm.
Pictured: Cupra Terramar prototype
As previously reported, in 2030 the Cupra brand intends to become fully electric, so the Terramar crossover will be the brand's last model with an internal combustion engine. There are no official details about the technology of the new product yet, it is known that the SUV will have modifications with MHEV installations and plug-in hybrid systems, which will be based on gasoline engines. It is expected that the PHEV version will have a maximum range of about 100 km when driving only on electric traction.
It is worth noting that Seat, despite the abandonment of the Tarraco, continues to work on its other models. Back in March of this year, it became known about the restyling of the Ibiza, Arona, Leon and Ateca. At the same time, the brand presented the updated hatchback and station wagon Seat Leon in mid-May. Let us recall that at that time the model lost its base engine, but at the same time received interior updates in the form of larger displays.
And at the beginning of the last month of spring, the refreshed Cupra Formentor and Cupra Leon debuted. These new products can boast a «shark nose» and the appearance of more powerful top versions in the range.