Seat Ateca: car review | Martin Love

Scratch the surface and the new Ateca is very much a VW, but Seat would rather accentuate its Spanish flair

Price: 17,497
Top speed: 114mph
0-62mph: 11 seconds
MPG: 54.3
CO2: 119g/km

It says much about Volkswagen's cold-blooded, unflinching march towards global dominance that Seat is now so keen to big up the differences rather than the similarities it shares with its parent company. Seat is proud to be Spanish. Forget Munich and Wolfsburg, the adverts tell us, Seat is "Created in Barcelona". And the new Ateca isn't about grey suits, dieselgate and drizzle, it's about sunshine, Gaudi and tiki-taka football" And it's all true. The Ateca was designed in Barcelona and the chief designer is Alejandro Mesonero, a suave and cultured native of the city.