The Seat Arona Is Another Reason The Nissan Juke Should Be Worried

The compact crossover market just got even more crowded thanks to Seat's Ibiza-related Arona
The Seat Arona Is Another Reason The Nissan Juke Should Be Worried

It’s getting tough out there for the curiously-faced Nissan Juke. It already had a bunch of rivals to worry about, but now it faces the prospect of VW’s incoming T-Roc, and in the space of a week two further similarly-sized crossovers have appeared: first the Kia Stonic, and now the new Seat Arona.

Based on the same MQB A0 architecture as the latest Seat Ibiza and the new VW Polo, it’s 79mm longer and 99mm taller than its supermini sibling. The bigger outward dimensions result in a lot more space: you get 37mm more headroom in the back, 33mm more in the rear, and a 400 litre boot.

The Seat Arona Is Another Reason The Nissan Juke Should Be Worried

That’s over 100 litres more than you get in an Ibiza, and - crucially almost 50 more than a Juke. So it has a bigger boot, and less challenging looks than the Juke. It’s very much a cross between an Ibiza and an Ateca, which results in a handsome - if not exactly daring - aesthetic.

The inside looks much the same as the Ibiza’s cabin, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. From our experience the infotainment system is a good one, and it comes with Apple Car Play, Android Auto and Mirror Link.

The Seat Arona Is Another Reason The Nissan Juke Should Be Worried

Under the bonnet, you can choose from a 1.0-litre turbocharged inline-three with either 94bhp or 113bhp, and VW Group’s new 1.5-litre ‘TSI Evo’ inline-four with 148bhp. Or if you’d prefer a diesel, there’s a 1.6-litre TDI with - mirroring the 1.0-litre petrol - either 94bhp or 113bhp on tap.

All can be had with either a manual gearbox (with five or six ratios depending on power) or a seven-speed DSG automatic transmission. There’s no four-wheel drive option - as with the Juke, the Arona is front-wheel drive only.

The Seat Arona Is Another Reason The Nissan Juke Should Be Worried

It’ll be built in Seat’s Martorell factory, and should go on sale shortly after its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September.

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Comments

German Perfectionist

Yey… Another one…

06/27/2017 - 11:43 |
42 | 0

SUVs are like mobile phones, cool for few months until the new one comes

06/27/2017 - 11:45 |
30 | 0
Tomislav Celić

[DELETED]

06/27/2017 - 11:43 |
4 | 4

[DELETED]

06/27/2017 - 11:44 |
0 | 0
German Perfectionist

Seat Arosa failed because it was just a re-badged Lupo
Seat Arona will be successfull BECAUSE SUV

06/27/2017 - 11:52 |
28 | 0

The new one looks m u c h better

06/28/2017 - 01:18 |
2 | 0
car doggo

better than the eclipse cross atleast

06/27/2017 - 12:04 |
8 | 0
TheMindGarage

Still waiting for the seven-seater Seat Poo…

06/27/2017 - 13:07 |
10 | 0
Anonymous

Can’t wait for the TV adverts featuring people singing about ‘my Arona’…

06/27/2017 - 14:30 |
2 | 0
Monty4248

Well, at least it looks better than the Juke

06/27/2017 - 16:42 |
2 | 0
The Retro Guy

Us?

06/27/2017 - 16:49 |
0 | 4
Blaž Potočnik

Well looks like it is not so good , Skoda Karoq lost to Honda HR-V and the winner was Renault Captur, all that in Autobild, where I never thought French car could win.

06/27/2017 - 19:11 |
0 | 0
The Seat Arona Is Another Reason The Nissan Juke Should Be Worried
Diarmuid Marsden

Honestly the only reason the juke sucessful is it’s styling. Which is still confusing to me…

06/27/2017 - 20:00 |
0 | 0