Cupra Ateca review

It used to be so easy to get your head around: Fiat just built Fiats and Citroën just built Citroëns. Any of their models that were particularly sporty or luxurious had some extra badging and, well, that was that.

Nowadays, though, Fiat and Citroën have sub-brands for special models and derivatives that don’t actually bear their parent companies' names at all. So, while an Abarth 500 looks very much like a Fiat and a DS 3 appears almost identical to what used to be a Citroën, they are in fact, technically at least, made by different manufacturers.

If you’re wondering why we’re telling you this in what’s supposed to be a review about the Cupra Ateca, well it’s because Seat has decided to tread the same path as its Italian and French rivals. The car you’re looking at here may look like a Seat, but it is in fact a Cupra – a new performance-oriented brand whose cars will be based on existing Seat models in the short term, but will eventually offer unique models of its own.

Although there are plenty of other performance SUVs to choose from – including the seven-seat Skoda Kodiaq vRS – the Cupra Ateca, for the moment at least, has what marketing folk like to call a ‘USP’ or a ‘unique selling point’ – no other SUV offers anywhere near as much performance for under £40,000.

But is the Cupra Ateca actually any good? Why might you choose to buy one instead of an even faster and considerably cheaper hot hatchback? Read on to find out the answers along with everything else you could possibly want to know. And whichever car you decide to buy, from a simple hatchback to a sizzling-hot SUV, remember that you could save a small fortune by checking out our latest deals.