NEW-LOOK IBIZA HERALDS AFRESH DAWN FOR SEAR

FIRST DRIVE Revamped supermini should be a hit for Spanish maker if price is right, following SEAT's repositioning as VW Group's budget brand

- Alastair Crooks

AS the most popular SEAT model ever with six million sales over 40 years, you can see why the maker has stayed true to the supermini segment with the new Ibiza. The Spanish brand has doubled down against a tide of fresh all-electric small cars by giving its most compact model a facelift.

We first saw images of the updated Ibiza alongside the revised Arona back in 2023. And while it’s taken some time for the production car to arrive, we have now driven it – and on the Spanish island of Ibiza, no less.

This might feel a little like déjà vu, because the current, fourth-generation Ibiza received its first facelift in 2021. But SEAT is raising expectations with the latest one by stressing that it has been shaped by three core pillars: a refreshed exterior, refined interior and a strengthened value proposition – all supposedly making the car more compelling than ever. That last pillar reinforces SEAT’s new positioning within the Volkswagen Group, where the company will sit further beneath Skoda and VW as a more budget-focused brand.

Pricing for the new Ibiza is due to be announced in November, although we've been told to expect it to start from less than £21,000, undercutting the platform-sharing Skoda Fabia by around £500. Top-spec versions should sit around the £25,500 mark, so at a similar level to the current car when it arrives in January.

Aside from dropping Xcellence and Black Edition trims, the Ibiza range is pretty recognisable from before. The SE kicks things off, followed by SE Technology, FR First Edition and the FR Sport.