AUTOCAR GAME CHANGER - The Seat Ateca takes an award as it moves the goal posts for the brand.

• Autocar honours the new SEAT Ateca in its 2017 awards as a “game changer”
• Judges rate the Ateca as instantly the best in its class, outperforming well-established rivals including the Nissan Qashqai
• Ateca at the heart of SEAT’s brand transformation, leading a massive new product offensive that will also see the showroom launch of  the All-new Ibiza in July and the new Arona compact crossover a few months later
• Ateca range continues to offer more with introduction of new FR sports versions

The SEAT Ateca’s trophy shelf has been extended yet again, this time to make room for a “Game Changer” prize in the 2017 Autocar Awards.

It’s one of a select number of honours Autocar presents to cars introduced in the past year that have “set new standards or defied convention by turning the established order on its head”.

That’s certainly true of the Ateca, SEAT’s first SUV, which in double-quick time has established itself as a winning prospect among the motoring media and the UK’s discerning car buyers alike. The positive opinions of Autocar’s road testers have been borne out by unprecedented sales figures for a new SEAT model.

Mark Tisshaw, Autocar Editor, said:  “The whole mainstream industry is now making a family SUV, but no-one is making a better one than SEAT with its Ateca.

“This is no mean feat, given the company has never made one before in its history. It's also unsurprising, as SEAT is on a roll with good cars at the moment. The Ateca caps a remarkable turnaround for them.”

The award follows the verdict voiced by Autocar’s enthusiastic 4.5-star road test, which declared the Ateca to be “an assured accomplishment, instantly establishing its place in a popular segment, while also surpassing second and third-generation rivals. It moved the Ateca straight to the top of its class, ahead of such notable rivals as the Nissan Qashqai and Renault Kadjar.

Richard Harrison, SEAT UK Director, accepted the award at a prestigious ceremony hosted this evening at Silverstone. He said:  “It is great to see the Ateca being recognised for setting a new benchmark in the highly competitive SUV market. It’s playing a big role in the transformation of SEAT in the UK too, being the most successful new car launch in our history, and attracting significant numbers of new customers to our brand.

“The product development team in Barcelona are doing an incredible job, which is why we are equally excited about the arrival of our All-new Ibiza and the prospect of Arona taking us into yet another part of the market later in 2017. Together with the recently launched New Leon, our award-winning product range keeps on growing, and more and more UK car buyers are now discovering how SEAT offers a desirable and fresh alternative to more traditional car brands.”

The Ateca line-up continues to expand to reach an even wider customer base. New sporty FR versions are the latest addition, available to order from July for delivery from August.