The new SEAT Ibiza receives the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2017

Martorell, 03/04/2017. – The new Ibiza most certainly has the best design SEAT has ever produced in the A0 segment. The challenge of doing justice to more than three decades of history and its importance as the main pillar of the Spanish brand has been passed with flying colours. Because it doesn’t just have all SEAT’s characteristic brushstrokes, but also characteristics that take it to the next level, marking a huge step in the brand’s expression of design. The undeniable proof of all of this is the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2017 with which the new SEAT Ibiza has just awarded.

Since 1954, the Red Dot Award has been one of the most prestigious design competitions in the world, giving international recognition to quality and innovation. On top of that, the Product Design category is the most important of all. The Red Dot Award: Product Design Jury is made up of 40 experts from all over the world that aren’t permitted to be part of any industrial manufacturing company nor can they participate in the vote for those products in which they may have been involved. This way, conflicts of interest are avoided and the highest design possible level of impartiality and neutrality are guaranteed.

The 5th generation has been designed in Barcelona and since its launched in 1984, for the first time, the Ibiza has become an icon of SEAT. This car has been around the longest in the history of the brand and is its top-selling model, with over 5.4 million units sold.
The new SEAT Ibiza shines especially thanks to its dynamic behaviour and driving quality, its impressive sense of stability and its reliability on the road, its massive improvement in interior quality, its incredibly safe and easy to use applied technology, its improved comfort… All of this stands out even at a glance thanks to its exciting design. 
“The Ibiza is the culmination and maturity of our new SEAT Design language. A new language that we started in 2012”, said SEAT Design director Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos.

The new SEAT Ibiza is easily recognisable as a genuine SEAT design due to its Full LED triangular headlights and its daylights’ iconic look, as well as the proud presence of the logo on the grill, visually enhanced by the two character lines on the bonnet and a small gap in the chrome frame. An x-shape design adds great dynamism and formidable visual stability.

The short overhangs, the four wheels situated on the four corners of the car, the long wheelbase, the graphics on the windows that not only bring out the car’s sporty, stable and dynamic character but also emphasise the size and width of the car, the list goes on. “We gave the most beautiful proportions and put our emphasis in volumes and surfaces to create a huge three dimensional effect in order to inspire the most critical and demanding eyes”, added Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos. The body of the new SEAT Ibiza is on one hand an example of perfect proportions, strong character and agile looks; on the other hand, it brings a fresh and young image together with maturity and balance.

“The sculptural forms and characterful appearance can be appreciated in every detail of its exterior and interior design”, explained Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos. The bodywork is beautifully sculpted thanks to the skilful combination of sharp lines and smooth surfaces. The double lateral blisters, a typical SEAT design, give the car an extra three-dimensional edge, while at the back, the rear lights wrap around the car, interacting with the rear blisters, demonstrating a unique design and giving great aerodynamic performance. The strong and clear lines of the boot and bumper increase the perceived width and create a wide, monolithic look with the rear reflectors bringing the car closer to the ground. The different trim levels come with different indicators; for example, the FR trim’s character is emphasized by the simulated exhausts either side of the rear bumper, while the XCellence’s chrome details accentuate its sophistication and refinement.

The interior boasts perfect proportions and an improved sense of space and comfort. The painstaking selection of materials means more elegant and quality perception, while more tension can be found in the precise and technical lines that also add lightness, achieving a young and dynamic character. The horizontal proportions dominate the interior, and clever organisation of the different functional areas, elevating the console to improve ergonomics and safety. In fact, all the car’s instruments and controls are situated around the driver in the highest position possible to allow the driver to keep their eyes on the road.

For example, the gearstick is placed in the highest position possible to make gear changing as easy and as smooth as possible. The quality of each detail has been taken care of to the extreme, designed to give the impression this is a model that is as close as can be to the next segment up. Numerous possibilities of personalisation are available too, such as the possibility to choose interior LED ambient lighting and the most advanced technology available, with the 8-inch touchscreen and the Full Link connectivity system. The cockpit is protected by an Air Care filter that isolates the occupants from any kind of allergens, creating a completely contaminant-free space.