Autocar - First for car news and reviews

Seat’s first foray into the upper medium segment comes courtesy of VW Group sister brand Audi. The new Exeo is, in fact, nothing more than a mildly made-over version of the previous-generation Audi A4.

The re-styling of the Exeo’s nose is disappointing, lacking the drama of Seat’s new Ibiza, and the rear end hardly departs from the look of the original Audi.

Inside, the Exeo gets the A4 cabrio dashboard – complete with distinctive round air vents – which Seat says is of even higher...Read the full article

Okay, so it's not got the design flair of the rest of the SEAT range but it is a good solid car and if the suspension revisions have been successful it could be a nice drive.

The only downside I can see is when it comes to resale time.  Unfortunately, I think it is always going to be tared with the "Old A4" tag, no matter how good it is and in the fickle UK market that is going to mean steep depreciation.

I'm sure it will be a nice drive, but I just don't get it. Why are Seat even bothering? If it looks duller than dull people just won't buy it - the new style direction, first seen on the Ibiza, just doesn't do it for me. Especially when applied to a bigger saloon body.

 i think seat had the right plan for their cars at the beginning of this century- handsome, cheaper then the VAG stuff on which it was based, and without a doubt, sportier.

i had a last gen 03 ibiza, a lowly 1.2s, but with the alloys, air con,all as standard, and that zingy engine, and loved telling people it was a VW but better!!!

Why oh why did they go down the every model we make is an MPV route?  (VW getting worried about toes being stepped on?)

the exeo appears to be an attempt to backtrack, but surely they could have done more than this with the A4 shell?

its good to be able to claim audi lineage- i love that my ibiza had the same indicator stalks as my partners brand new A3,  and those red dials, but this is blatant, and good for neither brands.

Auto emocion?  more like lost direction. sad.

 

I don't think it's too bad - I like what they've done with the front and rear - I think it looks quite classy, actually. I'm a little more disappointed with the interior. It doesn't seem to fit at all with the rest of Seat's range, namely the Ibiza, and there's way too much carried-over switchgear from the A4 (apart from the dials, steering wheel and air vents). Still, if the Estate is priced well, it could deserve to do well. The new Ibiza is brilliant value, in my opinion, and Seat need to apply that to the rest of their cars. Still, it might look better in the metal!

The designers at Seat seem to have lost there way somewhat, i'm sure they could have done more with the A4 body, but how fitting that they decided to graft the rear end off a facelift original Cordoba from the year 2000 on to this already ageing body. I also can't believe there's no petrol version in the UK, I've heard the rest of Europe are getting the new TSi engines and the 200 hp 2.0 TFSi, wouldn't this at least give it a chance as a sporting saloon, something that is surely in keeping with Seat's position in the VW group.

I think that SEAT's position within the VAG group is all too apparent nowadays- poor relation. There seems to be a blatant disregard for the future of this brand by it's owners. It's like Ford and Jaguar all over again....