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All new SEAT Leon – first company car review

Company car buyers really need to take notice of the new SEAT.
Mechanically, it’s just like an Audi A3 or a Golf – but for less money. Fast, economical, and a great new look.
Car review: DAVID WILKINS<br
607_SEAT_Leon_Header_Shot

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8 November 2012

 

What’s not?

  • Objectively, there’s not much to criticise on the new Leon – just minor stuff such as the slightly harder plastics used in the lower half of the otherwise vastly improved cabin, and the absence of one or two engine options offered in the A3 and Golf – for example, there’s no mention in the initial Leon listings of the fuel-saving cylinder-deactivation technology showcased by the VW and Audi.
  • The main obstacle to the Leon’s success is likely to be the SEAT badge on its nose, which, incidentally, has been subtly revamped for this important new car. SEATs haven’t traditionally been a business buy, although that’s been changing in recent years with the comparative success of the company car appealing Exeo and increased corporate sales efforts. The new Leon will help a lot.

Business Car Manager road test verdict

The new Leon is crucial to SEAT’s future. The company is currently fielding its strongest ever range, but the Mii, Alhambra and Toledo are produced by other companies in the Volkswagen empire and don’t offer SEAT much scope to do its own thing; SEAT stands or falls by the success of its core Ibiza and Leon models. It produces these in its own factory and they lead the way in terms of defining what SEAT is all about.

Fortunately for SEAT, the new Leon really hits the mark. After struggling to develop a distinctive SEAT identity with the unusually styled Altea and last-generation Toledo, the company has finally, with the current Ibiza, and now the new Leon, found a look that works. And the Volkswagen group engines and new MQB architecture work just as well in the Leon as they do in the more expensive VW Golf and Audi A3.

The most powerful FR diesel offers plenty of performance but combines it with low fuel consumption and emissions – and gets off fairly lightly as a result on the business car tax front.

Some company car buyers will prefer to stick with the solid image of the other big-selling Volkswagen group brands – but the new Leon seems set to draw increasing numbers of business motorists into SEAT showrooms, especially with performance slanted company cars such as this Leon reviewed here.

We’ve also driven the 1.6 TDI version, expected to be the biggest seller to company car buyers. You can read the review here.

 

SEAT Leon FR 2.0 TDI (184 PS) – the low down

P11D Value £22,320
Monthly business rental (ex VAT) £348 (3yrs/30,000 miles)
Company car tax band 2012/13 to 2014/15 16% 17% 18%
BIK tax £3,571 £3,794 £4,018
Engine 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel
CO2 112g/km
Power/torque 184 PS/ 380 Nm
0-62mph/Max speed 7.5 seconds/142mph
Economy 65.7 mpg

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Matt Morton

Matt Morton

Matt Morton is an automotive content writer for Business Car Manager

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