THE Japanese and Koreans had better watch out, as after attending the reveal for SEAT’s new SUV, we reckon this growing area of the market is going to get a lot more interesting with the just unveiled SEAT Ateca .

We outlined the main details of the Spanish sports utility in our report on the First SEAT SUV.

So here’s five highlights of the SEAT Ateca SUV – key reasons why this new Spanish rival is more than worthy of a second look when it enters showrooms this September against key rivals such as the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage and the Nissan Qashqai.

What’s in the name?

The Ateca is named after a Spanish village – like Ibiza and Leon. Nothing to do with Spain’s historic links with South American treasure-seeking and the Aztecs.

Ateca is the lightest in the SUV segment

A pretty bold claim and one sadly we’re unable to substantiate, as SEAT couldn’t give us a weight figure for the Ateca. Still, the fact that the entry-level Ateca is confirmed to be a two-wheel driver, fitted with a 113bhp, 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol gives us confidence about this claim. As a benchmark, it will have to better the 1.2-litre Nissan Qashqai which weighs 1,318kg.

Ateca will be competitively priced

Sadly, it’s still too early to talk prices and specifications for this new SEAT SUV. These will follow mid-year. However, a SEAT representative we spoke to expects pricing to be competitive when compared with rivals. With prices starting from around £18,000, SEAT realises that RVs for the Ateca will be key for low contract hire figures. Again we will watch with interest.

Ateca strictly a five-seater

Yup, if you need seven-seats you’re going to be disappointed – as the Ateca has just five and we were told there are no plans for a seven-seater either. Options? Well, you’ll have to wait till 2017, for the Ateca’s sister car – the as yet unnamed big brother to Skoda’s Yeti (link here) that we’ve also seen.

Still, we had a chance to sit in both the front and back of the Ateca at the reveal event and were really impressed with the head- and legroom. The 510-litre boot is also bigger than the Nissan and only drops to 475-litres for models with four-wheel drive.

Sporty FR and Cupra models likely

During the Ateca’s reveal, we had the chance to have a brief chat with SEAT CEO Luca De Meo. He revealed that SEAT senior management are pushing for these hot models, although a business case has to be made for it. A Spanish RS Q3 sounds fun to us – please build it!