What do you think Poverty they mean by...
"the sublime stability and precision of SEAT’s signature ‘Agile Chassis’, and drivers are able to enjoy sporty motoring at its very finest." Might this be the rumored independent rear suspension they worked on with Audi? Or just the standard SALES pitch for retuning an old apple cart...
Well 99% of the time I would dismiss such comments as usual BS sales pitch. However I think those comments, whether intentional or not will ring true for the next gen
ibiza.
Alot of the SEAT's board of head honchos are ex audi guys, and with that comes the lessons that they have learned with audi over the past 10-15 years.
Audi used to be dismissed as a lesser brand compared to MB and BMW. However over time they have managed to change that perception making audi the fastest growing premium car marquee in the world. Audi are doing so well they are described as VW's "Golden Goose" and analyst's reckon audi will have overtaken BMW by 2011/2012.
For audi to do this they had to come up with something that worked for them, and that was a strong brand image identity, coupled with great interiors and conservative minimalstic styling. What let them down though for many was the way the car's handled and drove. However audi realised this and so is evident in the R8, new TT and new A4 etc which really have put audi up there drive wise.
Now its taken audi a long time to come up with this formula for success for several reasons, and because audi and vw have already done the hard work SEAT the sister company will benefit withougt having the same waiting peroid. SEAT can straight away put in their new updated business model for success which seemingly starts with the next gen
ibiza.
The ex audi executives want SEAT to have audi like quality interiors, sharp sporty look, a design that looks sporty and that will in time create a strong brand image. The tribulus concept design cues can be seen in this
ibiza already and it will go across the board.
All audi's have a similiar identity or corporate look and it looks like SEAT will follow such a forumula.
And because SEAT have come up with such a strong concept, and the ex-audi execs having strong ties within ingolstadt, I can only see that they will try and get audi know how and tech into more of their vehicles, and put into place the lessons learned from audi. Its no good having the best looking car in its class on sale if it doesnt have the same class leading drive to match it.
Also its evident audi and seat have built some strong ties together due to the ex audi executives. The
mk2 leon cupra engine had alot of input into it from audi, and my sources have said that the upcoming audi a1 chassis was being developed with the
help of SEAT.
Also with the upcoming SEAT Bolero running a modified Audi A4 B7 chassis is more evidence of audi seat ties.
So with all of those things I think we are gonna see multi link rear suspension on the
ibiza. We might not see it on the lesser models, but on the 3 door FR and most certainly the cupra I think it will be a given that they will have rear multi link suspension. VAG want to take sales from the mini and BMW know this, and so inturn rumours point to BMW making a actual BMW badged mini type car (called the half series lol?).
What is confusing now though is where SEAT fits within the whole of VAG, and what porsche makes of it all once they have finished their arguable hostile takeover of VAG.
Will SEAT be positioned above, below, or alongside VW but albeit more sporty? If the quality of this concept carries throught the SEAT range I can see it easily upstaging VW vehicles. On other forums people are now saying asking how come SEAT gets better looking vehicles than VW
So can I assume this is just a typo? Or are they alluding to something else like the Hybrid drive train seen in the A1 concept the "Audi Metroproject Quattro"?!?
Or just the standard SALES pitch for retuning an old apple cart...
