Seat offers the 1.4-liter turbo engine in its León and Ateca and Tarraco models. After the Ibiza generation change, the 1.0-liter turbo engine had not been available in any model of the brand in the country.
Seat Ibiza FR 1.0 Turbo
This week, Seat announced a limited edition of 60 units of Ibiza with the 1.0 turbo engine to temporarily satisfy the demand of fans of this engine. It did so under the umbrella of the FR brand, which stands for Formula Racing, and which brings together the sports variants of the Ibiza and León models.
Among the characteristic elements of the FR versions are the LED headlights, the 17-inch wheels and the rear diffusers, which give it a sporty touch. This configuration is limited to only 60 units with a price of 467,900 pesos.
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Now Seat is also considering the possibility of launching a line version with the 1.0-liter turbo engine and automatic transmission to serve a larger customer base.
“In Mexico City, where we sell the largest volume, the automatic transmission is more requested,” said Gómez, detailing that this type of box represents about 60% of the sales of this model.
Although the Volkswagen Group’s 1.0-liter turbo engine configuration with automatic transmission already exists in the Mexican market, for example in the Nivus or Virtus models, the European platform of the Ibiza has not been adapted to be marketed outside of Europe. Mexico, which is the fourth largest market for the brand globally, would be the only country selected in America to offer an Ibiza configuration with this engine, with the necessary adjustments to adapt it to local requirements, which differ from European ones.
“It’s not just a copy-paste, but rather a meticulous adjustment to ensure optimum performance in the Mexican context,” said Gómez. “But it is an equation that requires much greater volume to be able to guarantee the cost benefit”, he concluded.