Is it? Could it possibly be? Can it really be?
Yes, it's actually a SEAT crossover, its rival for the Qashqai, which seems to have been in development since before the Qashqai was actually a thing. With ten per cent of European car sales predicted to be SUVs and crossovers shortly, SEAT really needs this car if it's going to get back into profit. Thankfully, it's a pretty thinly disguised concept - this is more or less the SEAT SUV we'll see in dealerships in 2016.
It's based on the same MQB chassis setup that's fast becoming ubiquitous, even universal, in the Volkswagen Group world, and will actually be built for SEAT by Skoda, in the factory where the current Superb and Roomster are built. Why no Spanish construction? Put it down to dirt-cheap Czech labour rates and a bit of extra capacity in the Skoda plant.
The 20V20 (which is meant roughly to mean 20:20 vision) is 4.6 metres long and SEAT says that it will have around 600 litres of luggage capacity, making it rather practical. There probably won't be a seven-seat version though, as Skoda has one of those planned and SEAT will be discouraged from stepping on its brother's toes.
Engines are unconfirmed for now, but come on, you can probably guess. There will be 1.6- and 2.0-litre TDI diesels, 1.2-, 1.4- and 2.0-litre petrols and a plugin hybrid too. The production car is unlikely to get the concept's 20-inch wheels and even less likely to get the little electric scooter that slots into the boot, which is meant to transport 20V20 passengers from parking space to final destination. Lazy gits; get out and walk...
We can also pretty safely expect that this will be just the first in a full family of variously sized SUVs from SEAT. About time...
Neil Briscoe - 3 Mar 2015
