Although we shouldn't be holding our breaths for this, Ramón Paredes, a VP from Volkswagen-owned SEAT, gave a hint that the Spanish marque could be selling a hybrid car soon. SEAT shares all its powertrains with the rest of the VAG group: Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda, so it seems reasonable that once one of them gets a hybrid and an electric powertrain, the rest of them get one as well. A similar thing happened with the BlueMotion aka Ecomotive eco brands. However, we had heard that diesel was the way to go and not hybrid. Anyway, we already know that VW is working on an EV powertrain for the near future. The truth is that SEAT is not facing good times, so a new model that could lead buyers to dealers could be a good thing.


[Source: La Nueva España via Econoticias]

The so-called "Emerging markets" on the East side of Europe have their own automotive awards. Which countries are we speaking about here? Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Russia and Greece. An organization active in these countries, called Autobest, gives out a green award called Ecobest. The winner this year is the Seat Ibiza Ecomotive, which produces just 98 g/km of CO₂. The reasons why award was given to the Spanish model are not only its green credentials but price, dealer network, parts availability, versatility, design and technology. The Ibiza Ecomotive (as well as its siblings the VW Polo Bluemotion and the Skoda Fabia Greenline) uses a specially tuned version of VW's 1.4-liter TDI engine good for 80hp and fuel consumption of 3.8 liters / 100km (62 mpg U.S.). The Ibiza won a similar award in Germany.



[Source: La Bolsa]

As most of our readers probably know by now, the "green" credentials for a car in Europe are often based on how much CO₂ the car produces. In fact, most of the new taxes applied to cars depend on this indicator, which is also connected to the car's fuel efficiency. Therefore, it is key for European consumers to know a car's CO₂ figure. That makes this list from AutoNews of Germany's top 20 low-carbon cars. Included are many small displacement diesels, the two most famous hybrids on the roads, a micro-hybrid and even a few 1-liter gasoline cars. Pictured above, one of the top 20. Follow us after the jump for the complete list.

[Source: AutoNews]

In 2008, the Volkswagen group expanded its diesel racing efforts beyond the already successful Audi R10 TDI into smaller bore classes. Here in North America, we had the VW Jetta TDI cup. Elsewhere, the Spanish branch of the Group, known as SEAT, ran a competition version of the Leon TDI in the World Touring Car Championship as well as the British Touring Car Championship. The WTCC still has two races to run but both the drivers and manufacturers championships have been decided in SEAT's favor. BMW won the last three championships but the Leon TDI has become the first diesel car to win an FIA world championship. The Leons won half of the first 22 races accumulating enough points for the championship. Swedish driver Rickard Rydell took two of those wins and enough good finishes to win the driver's title.

[Source: SEAT]

Last week, Al Gore was being chauffeured around the Netherlands by Audi. This week, another company (or, more accurately, another part of the same company) is trying to tie itself to the former Vice President. SEAT used the Alhambra Ecomotive in its "first official function" by driving around Seville, Spain doing ferrying duty for attendees of the recent 'Climate Change, Awareness and Action' meeting. Gore's The Climate Project was one of the organizers of this meeting, which featured over "200 key figures from the worlds of politics, society and culture to discuss the latest developments in the fight against climate change." The 38mpg U.S. Alhambra Ecomotive has CO₂ emissions of 159g/km, which doesn't make it the cleanest thing on four wheels but is respectable for a vehicle this size. Read more after the jump.

SEAT has introduced its latest sedan, called Exeo, in Paris. This is the first model in years that doesn't have a name from a Spanish town but it still might seem familiar to you: it's a rebadged previous-generation Audi A4. Hey, Europeans can rebadge like the best of the Chinese, after all! Why did Seat do this? Because no resources were ready to develop an all-new sedan and the classic name for the SEAT sedan, the Toledo, was used for a complete sales disaster mini-MPV with a strange hatch based on the Altea. At least the Exeo gets the latest generation VW engines, which will be all Euro V-compliant. The diesel versions will now have common-rail diesel technology instead of pump-injectors, as seen in the 6th generation VW Golf/Rabbit and range from 120 to 170 hp. SEAT models are already on sale in Mexico and rumors have it that SEAT could be sold stateside, aiming the Latin market.



[Source: SEAT]

The EcoTour was a 7-day tour through nine European countries with 42 of the most fuel-efficient cars. The tour started 12 September in Barcelona, Spain, and finished 19 September in The Hague in the Netherlands. The target was burning the least fuel possible during the seven days. There were two winners for each day: one absolute, and one for each category, as well as a final global winner: The Seat Ibiza Ecomotive, which averaged fuel consumption of 3.80 l/100 km (61.90mpg U.S.), and was driven by F.A. van Heijningen and N.A. van Heijningen-de Kok from the Netherlands. The event offset its carbon emissions via BP's target-neutral program (€0.18 for each tank of normal gasoline, diesel or LPG and as much as €0.36 for each tank of BP Ultimate premium fuels). Follow us after the jump to see the complete results.


[Source: Seat and Eco Tour]

The Verkehrs-Club Deutschland has declared the Seat Ibiza Ecomotive to be the most environmentally friendly car in Germany based on its CO₂ emissions. The Ibiza actually shares the honor with its sibling, the Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion. The little Seat uses its 80 hp 1.4L turbodiesel to earn a carbon dioxide emissions rating of just 99 g/km along with combined fuel economy fo 61.9 mpg (U.S.). Like the BlueMotion models from parent Volkswagen, the Seat Ecomotives take highly efficient engines, combined with some aerodynamic tweaks, low rolling resistance tires and taller gearing to minmize fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions. The Seat press release is after the jump.


[Source: Seat]

Typically automakers focus on trying to put customers behind the wheel of their products. SEAT, the Spanish branch of the Volkswagen Group has just received an award for reducing road traffic. Thanks to a new rail line from SEAT's Martorell plant to the port of Barcelona, the company has reduced road traffic from shipping new cars by 76 percent in the first quarter of 2008. Rail transport of new cars is both cheaper and environmentally cleaner than sending them by truck. SEAT has sent 32,500 cars on 210 train trips since the rail line started. The same number of cars by truck would have required over 7,300 trips. The SEAT press release is after the jump.

[Source: SEAT]

Although you can no longer say that the new Ibiza is small, it still plays a role in the European supermini segment. It's about 4-meters long, about the size of a Golf II series. Nevertheless, it's good to know that you don't have to be a big kid to be safe. The Spanish-German Ibiza got 5 stars at the EuroNCAP test in both frontal and side impact tests. During the front impact, the dashboard protected occupants correctly but there were some concerns raised about the steering column. Keep an eye on Seat: some rumors say VW could build Seat cars in Mexico to appeal the Latin/Spanish-speaking market.



[Source: EuroNCAP]

Although most of the attention at the Seat display at the Madrid Auto Show was drawn to the new Seat Ibiza (see it here), Seat also introduced the Seat Alhambra Ecomotive. The Alhambra is the badge-engineered version of the Volkswagen Sharan, which has a BlueMotion version as well. The Alhambra Ecomotive produces CO₂ emissions of 159g/km and the average fuel consumption of the new van is 6 l/100 km (38mpg U.S.) propelled by a 140hp 2.0L TDI engine with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) in the exhaust stream.

The new Ibiza, in the other hand, will be put on sale with three gasoline engines: 1.2-liter 70 HP, 1.4-liter 85 HP, 1.6-liter 105 HP and a1.9-liter diesel good for 105 HP and with a DPF as standard. The older models, including the Ecomotive version, will still be on sale for a while. Check out some live pics from Autoblog en Español here.

[Source: Seat and Autoblog en Español]

If you check any European car ad, you will see in tiny letters at the bottom the car's consumption and CO₂ production figures. This information is a mandatory requirement in Spain. But, according to Ecologistas en Acción and the Unión de Consumidores de España (UCE), an environmental organization and a consumer union from Spain respectively, these figures are not accurate and could be misleading.

Spain taxes the purchase of cars depending on CO₂ production figures, therefore it's a consumer's right to know previously what these figures are. UCE found out that 11 automakers didn't have accurate information or their ads were plainly misleading, like saying a car is under 119 g/km when it's just one model and the ad focus on the sport version that produces more than 200 g/km. Also, these figures tend to be hidden with small print. They also accuse automakers of trivializing these figures because all cars pollute even when polluting less.

Don't think it's just one automaker: Hyundai, Nissan, Seat, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Honda, Citroën, Opel, Dacia and Mercedes-Benz were accused of these practices.

[Source: Ecologistas en Acción via Econoticias]

Say hello to the new version of the Seat Ibiza. The Spanish-made subcompact comes with a completely new platform and a complete set of powertrains with green credentials: all gasoline-powered versions produce less than 160 g/km CO₂ while all diesels are below the 120 g/km figure. Missing from this list are the CUPRA and Ecomotive versions and, of course, hybrid powertrains.

The new platform makes the car larger and wider, which improves comfort, but SEAT has reduced weight wherever possible. This mean better fuel consumption for the redesigned Ibiza. Safety measures have also been improved and the marque expects the highest rankings possible in the EuroNCAP tests. Erich Schmidt, SEAT's CEO, believes that, "The new Ibiza puts your emotions up while putting your emissions down." Presentation video and full press release after the jump.

SEAT, the Spanish-based division of the Volkswagen group, started running the Leon TDI in Touring Car competition in mid-2007 and this weekend the hatchback will make its debut in Britain. At this weekend's British Touring Car Championship opener at Brands Hatch, veteran drivers Jason Plato and Darren Turner will run a pair of Leon TDIs. Since joining the BTCC in 2004, SEAT has won 33 out of 120 races and the new diesel-powered 2008 racers will be propelled by 270hp 2.0L engines. In the opening round of the World Touring Car Championship earlier this month the SEATs used their torque advantage to overcome the handling benefit of the rear wheel drive BMWs. The Brands Hatch weekend will include three 24 lap races this Sunday.

[Source: SEAT]

The Spanish Volkswagen subsidiary Seat has launched a new concept of a vehicle which, although it won't hit the showrooms, gives us cues of Seat's future design plans. The Bocanegra (literally "Blackmouth") is a sporty coupé that foreshadows what the upcoming Ibiza (to be replaced next year) and associated sedan (currently named Córdoba) are going to look like.

The concept is powered by a compact yet powerful twin turbo 1.4 TSI engine and a 7-speed DSG gearbox, which guarantees low CO₂ emissions while offering sport performance. Expect this engine combination to arrive in the Ibizas and Leones very soon, so Seat drivers can start taking advantage of some greener driving sooner rather than later. Full press release after the jump.