The New Seat Ibiza Is Like A Mini Leon

Like the look of the Seat Leon, but just find it a tad too large? Here’s your car.

It’s the all-new Ibiza, and it has more than a passing resemblance to its big brother, especially at the front. That’s not necessarily a bad thing: the Leon’s a handsome thing after all.

It sits on the all-new MQB A0 Platform (the first VW Group car to have that honour), and is 87mm wider, 1mm lower and has a 60mm longer wheelbase compared to the old model. As a result, your passengers should hate you a lot less, and you have 355 litres of boot space to play with, up by 63 litres.

On the engine front, there’ll be a pair of three-pot turbo units with 94bhp and 112bhp respectively, with the 148bhp, 1.5-litre ‘Evo’ TSI lump - first seen in the facelifted Golf - joining the range later in the year.

Want an oil burner? In the UK you’ll have the choice of two 1.6-litre diesels with either 79bhp or 94bhp. Five or six-speed manuals come as standard on all engines (the number of cogs depending on the power), with a seven-speed dual-clutch ‘DSG’ available as an option. Will there be a Cupra? It’s not been mentioned just yet, but we sure hope so.

As is the case with the Ibiza’s Ford Fiesta arch rival, this is a supermini that’s been stuffed full of tech, because it seems even buyers of smaller cars want a festooning of gadgets these days.

We’re talking autonomous braking, wireless phone charging, a Beats sound system, Apple Car Play, front and rear cameras and much more besides. What you get will depend on which of the four trim levels - S, SE , FR or Xcellence - you go for, while some equipment will be available only as optional extras.

We’ll know more when the car gets its full debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March.