Currently reading: New Seat Tarraco seven-seat SUV to be revealed tomorrow
Spanish brand is set to pull the covers off its Nissan X-Trail rival on 18 September before sales begin later this year

Seat’s Skoda Kodiaq alternative, the Tarraco, will finally be revealed in full at an event outside Barcelona tomorrow on 18 September, and the seven-seat SUV will be available to order before the end of 2018.

The Tarraco will be revealed in Tarragona - relevant because the SUV takes that town’s Latin name. The name was selected after 146,000 people took part in a public vote between a number of names, all taken from Spanish towns or provinces.

The model completes Seat’s SUV line-up for the time being, joining the smaller Seat Ateca and Seat Arona.

It shares its underpinnings with the similarly sized Kodiaq and is likely to borrow much of that car’s engine range and technology.

Previously, a digital drawing showing the car’s full styling was leaked online through social media. A promotional video was also posted by Seat, revealing the SUV’s front end.

 

 

The car's front end design is largely familiar to the brand's SUV family, although the rear features a light bar that's new to Seat.

Seat’s names from Spain

Ronda: Produced from 1982 to 1986, this was the first Seat named after a town in Spain. Ronda is located in a mountainous area of the Málaga region.

Málaga: This saloon, built from 1985 to 1992, took the name of Spain's sixth-largest city.

Marbella: This was a rebadged Fiat Panda, named after a city on the Costa del Sol.

Seat Ibiza: The long-running supermini shares its name with the party-friendly Balearic island.

Córdoba: A bigger version of the Ibiza, named after the historic city in Andalusia.

Toledo: Small family car has the same name as a historic town that's a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Seat Leon: Seat’s family car is named after a large city in the North-West of Spain.

Alhambra: This large MPV gets its name from a large palace in Granada.

Altea: The name of Seat’s discontinued small MPV was taken from a town on the Costa Blanca.

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Ateca: The hugely popular SUV was named after a small town with a population of less than 2000 people in the province of Zaragoza.

Seat Arona: A small port town on the island of Tenerife gives its name to Seat’s new small SUV.

Arosa: The small city car Seat produced from 1997 until 2004 referenced Vilagarcía de Arousa in the Galicia province. Seat returned to the city car market in 2012 with the Mii, which of course isn’t named after anywhere in Spain.

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James Attwood

James Attwood, digital editor
Title: Acting magazine editor

James is Autocar's acting magazine editor. Having served in that role since June 2023, he is in charge of the day-to-day running of the world's oldest car magazine, and regularly interviews some of the biggest names in the industry to secure news and features, such as his world exclusive look into production of Volkswagen currywurst. Really.

Before first joining Autocar in 2017, James spent more than a decade in motorsport journalist, working on Autosport, autosport.com, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, covering everything from club rallying to top-level international events. He also spent 18 months running Move Electric, Haymarket's e-mobility title, where he developed knowledge of the e-bike and e-scooter markets. 

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XLR8 17 September 2018

How anyone working for SEAT can muster any enthusiasm...

...when all they can truly offer is reheated VWG hand-me-downs is a mystery to me. 

We've been here many times before. Remember the Mk1 Leon with it's Audi A3 dashboard? Or the Exeo, which was the old A4? Or the Inca, a rebadged Polo van? And the Alhambra, etc. etc.

What's interesting is they're only starting to do noticeable volumes now they are offering SUVs. And when "sheeple" tire of that particular fad, then what?

I saw the stand-alone "Cupra" brand at Geneva, but I give that 3 years max. as clearly SEAT are misguided as to how much resonance it has outside of their own organisation - and in truth all they are doing is rebadging a SEAT - which is already a rebadged VW/Skoda.

That said I'd certainly pick a new Ibiza over a Polo or A1, though. Better looking, better value. 

WallMeerkat 17 September 2018

XLR8 wrote:

XLR8 wrote:

What's interesting is they're only starting to do noticeable volumes now they are offering SUVs. And when "sheeple" tire of that particular fad, then what?

What do we reckon will be the post-SUV trend? I reckon people via MPVs and SUVs have gotten used to sitting up high, but I think we are overdue a return to elegance. I think the likes of the Jag iPace or even the Russian Renault Arkana are the future, tallish fastbacks.

Quote:

That said I'd certainly pick a new Ibiza over a Polo or A1, though. Better looking, better value. 

I actually considered a Toledo as it was a practical Skoda with a sportier SEAT grille and are tremendous value (used when someone else hit the depreciation).

Though they're rare specced with a DSG box, something I wanted for commuting.

Peter Cavellini 22 February 2018

Death of the Estate Car.....?

Why?, why are we being Brainwashed into thinking we need a big 5/7 seater when most are only ever at the most have two People in them?!

erly5 22 February 2018

Brainwashed?

Peter Cavellini wrote:

Why?, why are we being Brainwashed into thinking we need a big 5/7 seater when most are only ever at the most have two People in them?!

 

Who exactly is being brainwashed? So the majority of us who are not driving about in Smart Fortwos have been brainwashed into buying 4/5/7 seater cars we don't actually need? I don't think so!  

kboothby 26 July 2018

Brainwashed? Not Me..

I like large cars, I need a large car. I need boot space and seating for minimum of five, mr Cavellini can stick to his Fortwo if that suits his needs, each to his own and all that...

WallMeerkat 17 September 2018

kboothby wrote:

kboothby wrote:

I like large cars, I need a large car. I need boot space and seating for minimum of five, mr Cavellini can stick to his Fortwo if that suits his needs, each to his own and all that...

But any SUV I've experienced has been a reverse tardis, with mediocore passenger and luggage space.

You do know you can still buy big non-SUV cars? Something like a Mondeo or a Superb will seat 5 comfortably with cavernous luggage space.

SmokingCoal 20 February 2018

SEAT Tacky

Just another rebranded Skoda. Have Volkswagen Group ever considered changing their name to British Leyland?