VW's Seat brand unveils Toledo family sedan
Compact car will be built in Skoda Czech factory
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Volkswagen Group's Seat unit has unveiled the Toledo concept for a family sedan. The car previews a production model that is part of the Spanish brand's big product push to boost slow sales.
The near-production concept, which debuts at the upcoming Geneva auto show, is the third-generation car to carry the Toledo name. It has a conventional sedan shape, unlike previous Toledos which had a minivan-like design.
The compact car will go on sale in Seat's Spanish home market later this year targeted at families. Sales will follow soon after in other European markets.
The Toledo "illustrates our idea of the perfect mid-range car," Seat President James Muir said in a statement.
The concept is 4480mm long with a 2600mm wheelbase and luggage space of 500 liters.
The production version will be built at sister brand Skoda's plant in Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic, alongside a similar model, the Skoda Rapid.
Seat has not released prices for the Toledo, but it is expected to start at between 13,000 euros and 14,000 euros.
Seat is one of the few trouble spots in VW Group. The brand has been losing money for years. Its global car sales fell 15.4 percent to 21,700 in January, compared with the same month in 2010. Last year, Seat's car sales were 350,000, a 3.1 percent increase on the year before.
To reduce the brand's reliance on its Spanish home market and the rest of Europe -- where the financial crisis is hitting sales -- Seat is launching new products and entering new markets.
Seat recently launched sales of the Mii, a minicar based on the VW Up. A face-lifted Ibiza subcompact debuts in Geneva this week.
The brand started sales in China last year.
Seat stopped selling the last-generation Toledo in 2009 after sales slowed. The car was introduced in 1991 and Seat sold just over 860,000 units of the first two generations.
The Toledo is being revived as part of the brand's bid to more than double annual sales to 800,000 by 2018.
You can reach Paul McVeigh at pmcveigh@crain.com.
