What engines will there be?

The initial engine choices are all pretty tame and familiar from the current car. There's a 69bhp three-cylinder 1.2, an 84bhp 1.4 and a 100bhp 1.6. Diesels won't be available until 2009: there are 1.4, 1.9 and 2.0 units that Seat can choose from.

The 1.9 might also be offered in high-economy, low-emissions Ecomotive form, with longer gearing, lower-rolling-resistance tyres, aerodynamic changes and a tweaked engine.

Expect the Ibiza also to get the VW Group's muscular, economical TSI turbocharged petrol engines in 2009, certainly for the warm FR and hot Cupra versions. There are 1.4, 1.8 and 2.0 versions that Seat could call on, delivering between 120 and 200bhp.

The possibilities, if not exactly endless, are far greater than when the outgoing Ibiza was developed, hidebound by the restrictions of VW's old rigid platform strategy.

With a little bit of Lamborghini thrown in for good measure, this might just be the Ibiza to live up to all those sporty promises.