Currently reading: New Seat Ibiza - first details
New Seat Ibiza hatch is expected in 2017 and the Spanish manufacturer's design boss has revealed plans to "redesign an icon"

Work has begun on the fifth-generation Seat Ibiza ahead of an expected launch in 2017.

Until the new model arrives, the current fourth-generation Ibiza – which has been on sale since 2008 – is set to undergo a facelift next year to keep it fresh, with the main changes expected inside.

Company chief Jürgen Stackmann said the new Ibiza was now being "defined". He added: "It needs to be normal enough to be bought by everyone but different enough to stand out in the market."

Seat is this year celebrating 30 years of the Ibiza, and last night assembled key designers of the car from its past – including VW Group design boss Walter de Silva, Bentley design chief Luc Donckerwolke and current design boss Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos – to celebrate the car's past, present and future.

Mesonero-Romanos revealed a sketch showing how the Ibiza's key design themes have evolved, which also hinted at a future styling direction of the car. He said to not expect a smaller clone of the Seat Leon, but themes developed on that car would continue on the Ibiza, perhaps in the LED front light graphic, for example.

"This is an opportunity to redesign an icon," said Mesonero-Romanos, who owned an Ibiza Mk1 and was also part of de Silva's design team for the Ibiza Mk3. "It's going to have great horizontality, and blister lines developed from the Leon. The lines of the current car will change but the spirit won't.

"It will be a design revolution for the Ibiza, as firstly the market demands it and secondly to set it apart from the Leon. It will have strong character, tautness and a feeling of movement when stopped. The spirit of a fun, agile drive will remain. It will be a different car, but clearly an Ibiza.

"The current Ibiza, of course, still has life and we're still planning a long life for it based on innovations."

Mesonero said the new Seat SUV, due 2016, would evolve the design language of the Leon but the Ibiza would be a bigger step.

The new Ibiza will be based on the compact version of VW Group's MQB platform, also destined for the new Polo in two to three years, rather than use a re-engineered version of the current car's underpinnings as sister firm Skoda is doing with its new Fabia.

Seat insiders confirmed the Leon-sized SUV would be the firm's next new model launch, and that the Ibiza would come after that, meaning a 2016 reveal is likely ahead of sales starting in 2017.

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The Seat Ibiza is good looking, well-priced and spacious supermini that doesn’t quite live up to Seat’s sporty image

Mark Tisshaw

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Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

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Norma Smellons 25 July 2014

@3emocion

I admire your enthusiasm for all things SEAT but 1) The SEAT Ibiza is not an iconic vehicle. Never was, never will be. Were I to suggest a notable (but not iconic) SEAT I would probably choose a sporty Leon. 2) SEATs are spun off VW platforms, not the other way around. Think about that one - VW is enormous and SEAT most definitely is not. 3) Just because SEAT (or Audi for that matter) uses a platform first does not mean they developed it. It merely means they had first access to it due their model cycle. Which is again controlled by the parent company, VW. 4) VW develops platforms for VW first and foremost with minor customisations for the other brands in its portfolio. VW is the organ grinder here, and SEAT, Skoda, etc are the monkeys. 5) If VW take a car back from SEAT, like the booted Polo, they are not 'taking' anything - they own the design already. 6) SEATs were once rebadged FIATs. That is not a compliment. If this plus all of the above makes them iconoclastic in your mind then I feel rather sorry for you.
xxxx 25 July 2014

above

Ok to help you sleep at night it is an Icon. It's in the Icon list, Mini, Beatle, Porsche 911, VW Camper, DB5, Seat Ibiza. Sorry I disagreed with you and the Seat boss
erly5 25 July 2014

"Horizontality"?

WTF !!!