The Seat Tarraco has been axed to make way for sibling brand Cupra’s new Terramar SUV, Autocar can reveal.
Seat’s family SUV, which is closely related to the previous-generation Skoda Kodiaq and Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace, had been on sale in the UK since 2018.
Seat said in a statement: “The Seat Tarraco has been a success. But there will be no Tarraco successor.
“From mid-2024, we will focus on the new Cupra Terramar in the segment, and it will fill this space very well.
“The Tarraco will then be phased out; it will end its production by Q2 2024.”
The Terramar, which is 0.2m shorter than the Tarraco, will arrive in the UK with a range of mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid petrol powertrains. The latter is said to be capable of achieving around 62 miles under electric-only propulsion, putting it on a par with the new plug-in Volkswagen Passat and Skoda Superb estates.
The new SUV will prove key in the expansion of the Cupra’s brand, targeting one of the market’s biggest-selling segments. It will also be Cupra’s final combustion-engined car as it looks to go all-electric in 2030.
Seat, meanwhile, has emphasised its ongoing rebound from the pandemic-induced semiconductor shortage. “Sales of the Seat brand in 2023 grew 24%, reaching 288,400 cars sold,” it said in its statement.
The brand added that it will now move to update its remaining models – the Ateca, Arona, Ibiza and Leon – “to continue offering plug-in hybrid and fuel-efficient cars until the end of the combustion era”.
