The fifth generation of the ever popular SEAT Ibiza is about to be released - we look back !

• About to enter its fifth generation, the SEAT Ibiza has sold more than 5.4 million units
• 80% of its production is exported to over 75 countries 
• It has been on the market for 33 years and was the car that internationalised the brand

In 1984, Michael Jackson took the music world by storm with Thriller. On the big screen, Ghostbusters and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom smashed all box-office records. 

It was also the year when Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was born, and the year the first SEAT Ibiza was launched on the market. 

Since then, this model has been driving on streets and roads all over the world continuously for 33 years. Keep reading to find out some interesting facts and figures about this legendary model.

-Four generations and more than 5.4 million units sold

In three decades, the SEAT Ibiza has accumulated four generations. It is the top-selling Spanish passenger car – to date, more than 5.4 million units have been sold. If they were arranged in a straight line, they would exceed the distance between Barcelona and New Zealand.

- Created in Barcelona

Every generation of the Ibiza was designed, developed and produced in Barcelona. Italy’s Giorgetto Giugiaro was the Design Director responsible for the first generation. The engine was developed with the collaboration of Porsche, thereby creating the System Porsche designation, and car module manufacturer Karmann helped build the bodywork. 

- Fuel consumption lowered to less than half

After 33 years, the SEAT Ibiza consumes less than half as much as the first generation – from 7.8 litres/100 km in 1984 down to 3.6 litres on today’s 90 hp Ibiza 1.4 TDI.  

- 8 out of 10 Ibizas are exported

Every day 700 new SEAT Ibizas roll out of the Martorell factory. Of these, 80% are exported to over 75 countries. In fact, the Ibiza was behind the internationalisation of the brand as it was the first model to be regularly exported from Martorell. 

-Headline figures of the Ibiza

More than 700 robots are involved in its production. Each vehicle contains 3,000 parts, and it travels nearly 12 km to complete its production process. In addition, since 1984 more than 70 million kilos of paint have been used, which is equivalent to painting the Eiffel Tower more than 1,000 times. 

- Women’s role

The Ibiza was the first SEAT car to integrate women on the production line. Today, women account for 1 out of every 5 workers on this line (21%), the highest rate in Spanish industry. In addition, the global market has seen more and more women buyers in the last ten years, accounting for 51% of the share compared to 42% in 2004.

-Passion for competition 

The Ibiza was the official car of the Barcelona ’92 Olympic Games. It also achieved notable successes in competition racing, such as the three FIA World Rally Championship titles in the 2 litre category in 1996, 97 and 98.

Nissan produces it's 11 Millionth engine in Aguascalientes Powertrain plant in Mexico.

Almost 33 years after the powertrain plant in Aguascalientes started operations, Nissan Mexico celebrated the production of its 11 millionth engine, which reflects the quality of production processes and Mexican workforce – both recognized by the company worldwide.

The 11 millionth engine is a 1.8-liter, 16-valve 4-cylinder MRA8 DOHC model with 130 HP and an XTronic transmission. It will be assembled in a Nissan Sentra bound for the United States market.

Special guests attending the event included: Takafumi Arai, General Manager, Powertrain Planning Department, Nissan Motors; Armando Avila, Manufacturing VP of Nissan Mexico; Francisco Carbajal, Operations Manager, Powertrain Plant; as well as employees, suppliers and others.

Nissan's powertrain plant in Aguascalientes is classified as one of the top three powertrain plants from the Renault-Nissan Alliance. It began operations on November 13, 1982, and it currently produces eight different engines in five different production lines, which manufactures an engine every 16 seconds. This achieves a daily production of 3,754 motors. It also has six assembly lines – five for each motor and one for the XJ 5 transmission.

The engines are distributed to Nissan plants located in Aguascalientes – A1 and A2 – and CIVAC, located in Morelos. Then they are integrated into the Sentra, Versa, March, NOTE, Tiida, Tsuru and NP300. This year the plant will produce 846,000 engines for Aguascalientes A1 and A2 plants, as well as for CIVAC and spare parts market.

Living legend former Jaguar test driver and works racer Norman Dewis receives an OBE.

• Living legend former Jaguar test driver and works racer Norman Dewis receives an OBE in Her Majesty’s New Year Honours List
• Norman Dewis OBE enjoyed a 33-year career at Jaguar and is widely regarded as Britain’s greatest test driver
• Dewis developed many of Jaguar’s most famous models, including the Le Mans-winning D-type and influential E-type
• Dewis also set a land speed record for Jaguar and competed in many races for the marque during the 1950s
• At 94 years old, Dewis still retains a close relationship with Jaguar, acting as a global ambassador and a familiar face at many key motoring events around the world today

In a career spanning 33 years of testing and developing many seminal and celebrated Jaguar cars, the exceptional achievements of legendary 94-year-old former test driver Norman Dewis have been recognised and rewarded in Her Majesty’s New Year Honours List, with Norman receiving the award of an Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Norman Dewis OBE developed no less than 25 significant Jaguar cars and is widely regarded as Britain’s greatest test driver. His automotive CV is remarkable: he developed the multiple Le Mans-winning C-type and D-type racing cars, the pioneering XK 140 and 150 sports cars, the classic 2.4/3.4 and Mk II saloons, plus the Mk VII and Mk VIIM models, the legendary E-type (including the Lightweight E-type), the XJ13 mid-engined prototype, the world-class XJ saloons, the XJ-S and the ‘XJ40’ models.

Dewis was also co-driver to the British racing hero Sir Stirling Moss in a C-type in the 1952 Mille Miglia and, in 1953, set a 172.412 mph production car speed record in a modified Jaguar XK 120 on a closed section of the Jabbeke highway, Belgium. He also drove a 190 mph works D-type in the dramatic 1955 Le Mans 24hr race and competed in the famous Goodwood Nine Hours in the 1950s.

At 94 years old, Dewis is one of the last living links to the golden era of the British motor Industry; those post-World War II years when Jaguar rebuilt itself into a champion sports car maker. 

During his 33 year career, Dewis completed more than a million test miles at an average speed of 100 mph-plus and survived high-speed crashes in the days before seatbelts, without ever breaking a single bone. He also played a vital role in developing the revolutionary Dunlop disc brake.

During 2014, Dewis spearheaded Jaguar’s 60^th anniversary celebrations for the race-winning D-type. Wherever Jaguar was during the year, Norman was present too, chatting with fans and friends, wearing his distinctive bootlace tie and cowboy boots. At the 2014 Goodwood Revival, Dewis drove one of the D-types, his speed illustrating that he hadn’t lost his touch behind the wheel. 

Of all the cars he worked on, Dewis considers the D-type to be the best. “I got that car up to 192 mph on the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans,” he says. “Well, I had to pass [Karl] Kling in the Mercedes.” Jaguar’s star driver at the time, Mike Hawthorn, had such faith in Dewis that when he was asked to attend a test session and saw that Dewis was already there, asked the team manager: “Why am I here? If Norman’s satisfied with it, I’m satisfied.”

Dewis is working with Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations’ newly established Jaguar Heritage Business organisation to help showcase its capabilities and vision.  He is supporting the opening of the new Heritage workshop at Browns Lane, the extensive classic Jaguar parts offering, the launch of the new Jaguar Heritage Driving Experience in Warwickshire, and the brand-new Lightweight E-type, which he helped develop originally in the early 1960s.

John Edwards, Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations, and Chairman of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, said: “Jaguar owes a huge debt to Norman Dewis. His incredible skills have resulted in some of the finest cars this company has ever made – whether they were designed for the road or the racing circuit. The Norman Dewis of today is the same quietly confident and modest man of the 1950s – he remains a world-class Jaguar ambassador. It is fantastic to see his contribution to Jaguar, and to British engineering, recognised in Her Majesty’s New Year Honours List, with the award of an OBE.”